Hopen, Stig Runar, Mjøen, Tor Arne · Cureus · 2025 · DOI
This article proposes a new theory about muscle pain and stiffness called Myopraktikk, which focuses on fluid pressure building up in the spaces around muscles. The authors suggest that when fluid pressure increases in these areas, it can cause muscles to feel tight, knotted, and painful—similar to what happens in conditions like ME/CFS and fibromyalgia. According to their hypothesis, releasing this pressure through manual treatment may help reduce symptoms in both the treated area and elsewhere in the body.
ME/CFS is characterized by widespread myalgia and post-exertional malaise with no clear structural findings on imaging, leaving patients without adequate explanatory models or targeted treatments. This hypothesis proposes a biomechanical mechanism that could explain nonspecific pain, fatigue amplification, and systemic responses to local stress, potentially opening new avenues for understanding and treating the myofascial component of ME/CFS.
This article does not provide experimental evidence, controlled trials, or objective measurements to prove the IFMFP hypothesis; it is a theoretical framework based on clinical observations and palpation alone. The study does not demonstrate that Myopraktikk treatment is effective, nor does it establish causality between fluid pressure and symptoms—these remain inferences. No data are presented comparing IFMFP measurements in ME/CFS patients versus healthy controls or other disease groups.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Hopen, Stig Runar & Mjøen, Tor Arne (2025). Myopraktikk (NO): A Narrative Review and Conceptual Hypothesis on Intrafasciomembranal Fluid Pressure, Biotensegrity, and Immediate Remote Myofascial Responses.. Cureus. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.93711
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-hopen-2025-myopraktikk-narrative,
author = {Hopen, Stig Runar and Mjøen, Tor Arne},
title = {Myopraktikk (NO): A Narrative Review and Conceptual Hypothesis on Intrafasciomembranal Fluid Pressure, Biotensegrity, and Immediate Remote Myofascial Responses.},
journal = {Cureus},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.7759/cureus.93711},
note = {PubMed: 41181726},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hopen-2025-myopraktikk-narrative},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/hopen-2025-myopraktikk-narrative
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