Comparison of masticatory muscle myofascial pain in patients with and without a chief complaint of headache

Objectives Headaches are a common complaint in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients. However, few studies have compared the symptom characteristics between TMD patients with and without a complaint of headache. The aim of this study was to compare subjective symptoms and treatment outcomes between myofascial TMD patients who had a chief complaint of headache and those who did not.Methods One hundred sixty one patients underwent comprehensive examinations and scored their pre- and post-treatment symptoms on a form (4 items assessing pain intensity and 1 assessing sleeping difficulty). On the basis of the primary diagnosis, patients were divided into two groups: myofascial pain with and without a chief complaint of headache (MPH and MP).Results Before treatment, patients in the MPH group scored significantly higher with respect to pain intensity and level of sleeping difficulty than did patients in the MP group (jaw/face pain, P = 0.015; headache, P Conclusion Significant differences in symptom characteristics and outcomes were observed between primarily myofascial TMD patients with and without a chief complaint of headache.