Methods are provided for intramuscular needle diagnosis and treatment of muscle pain that is the result of sympathetically mediated spindle spasm. Two simultaneous needle EMG needle recordings are used to establish the presence of and magnitude of the 'trigger points' in painful muscle. The abnormal muscle activity so identified is then treated by blocking the sympathetic activation of the muscle with an alpha receptor antagonist, e.g. phentolamine, phenoxybenzamine and guanethidine.