Criteria of the American Academy of Orofacial Pain (AAOP) for Masticatory Muscle Myalgia

Myalgia of masticatory muscles can result in orofacial pain.

Recognized types of myalgia:

(1) local myalgia

(2) centrally-mediated myalgia

Clinical Feature	Local	Centrally-Mediated
pain at rest	none or minimal	regional dull, aching
pain during function	regional dull aching	aggravates
muscle tenderness to palpation	local	aggravates pain
trigger points	absent	absent
pain referral pattern	absent	absent
history	NA	prolonged and continuous muscle pain

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