Myofascial Pain-Dysfunction Syndrome: The Role of Nonmasticatory Muscles in 91 Patients

Abstract

Ninety-one new patients with myofascial pain-dysfunction (MPD) syndrome were studied prospectively. The patients experienced aural fullness, tinnitus, vertigo, odynophagia, and headache in addition to the cardinal symptoms of otalgia, muscle tenderness, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) click, and trismus. Some nonmasticatory muscles were found to be tender as frequently as the masticatory muscles. It is proposed that MPD syndrome as seen clinically involves more than just the masticatory musculature and is a composite of several head and neck myofascial pain syndromes including tensor tympani syndrome, muscle tension headache, cervical syndrome, and hyoid syndrome.