Notwithstanding the Task Force’s assessment, it may still
be reasonable to investigate whether there are specific tissue based
impairments related in particular to mechanical neck
pain (MNP) revealed upon further examination. Abnormal
cervical postures and muscular activity are commonplace in
patients with MNP (Haldeman et al., 2008a,b). Because
muscular imbalances, articular disturbances, trigger points,
tender points, muscle injuries, referred pain and postural
distortions manifest themselves in individual muscles, these
offer themselves as individual criteria to determine whether
these muscle dysfunctions are evident in patients with MNP
compared to patients without MNP (Carroll et al., 2008).