en آسیب شناسی ورزشی و حرکات اصلاحی Sport injury and corrective exercises پژوهشي Research <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Purpose</strong>: Myofascial pain syndrome caused by trigger points (TPs) can lead to complications, such as hyperalgesia, limited range of motion (ROM), stiffness, weakness, proprioceptive interference, and coordination disorder. The trapezius muscle is among the most common areas of TPs; therefore, inactive TPs have been reported in 78.8% of healthy people. The trapezius muscle requires special attention due to its area and function. Many methods have been proposed to release TPs, among which self-myofascial release (SMR) and massage have been considered the most popular. This study aimed to assess the effect of the above-mentioned methods in reducing complications created by TPs in the trapezius.<br> <strong>Methods</strong>: A total of 45 women with TPs in the trapezius muscle were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent intervention for five days. During the pre- and post-test, the shoulder ROM was measured using a goniometer. In addition, the pain level was evaluated using the visual analog scale, and the quality of hand and shoulder function was examined using the disability of the arm, shoulder and hand questionnaire (DASH).<br> <strong>Results</strong>: Pain significantly reduced in both groups (P>0.001), as well as improvement in DASH score (P>0.001). With regard to ROM, massage led to greater improvement in ROM in internal and external rotation of the shoulder (P>0.001). The ROM in flexion and abduction showed more improvement in the SMR group (P>0.001). None of the interventions significantly affected the ROM in extension (P=0.420).<br> <strong>Conclusion</strong>: The results indicated that both interventions can reduce pain and improve the quality of shoulder motion. However, a different result was obtained for the ROM. Accordingly, massage can be more effective in internal and external rotation, while SMR is more effective in abduction and flexion due to the muscle connections in the trapezius.</div> Massage, Myofascial release, Myofascial pain syndrome, Trigger points (TPs), Shoulder 419 432 http://ptj.uswr.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-672-3&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Fariborz Hovanloo F_Hovanloo@sbu.ac.ir 0000-0002-8743-6442 Yes Department of Health and Sport Rehabilitation, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran. Sara Matinfard saramatinfard77@gmail.com 0009-0008-2079-7041 No Department of Health and Sport Rehabilitation, Faculty of Sport Sciences and Health, University of Shahid Beheshti, Tehran, Iran.