Temperomandibular Joint Dysfunction causing Otalgia

This is a retrospective study of patients reporting to ENT OPD at Princes Esra Hospital, affiliated to Deccan College of Medical Sciences , Hyderabad with otalgia between Dec 202 and Nov 2014. 452 patients reported with otalgia with different causes such as Acute Supputative Otitis Media (ASOM), Otitis externa, furuncle ear and so on and so forth. A sizeable patients in young age group were studied and found to be suffering from Temperomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMD) with associated otalgia. In my study majority of patients belonged to younger age group of 20-40 years. I have taken into consideration patients in age group of 20-40 years for in this group TMD is most common.. After excluding various other causes of otalgia 156 cases were found to be having TMD. This constitutes 33% of cases being diagnosed to be suffering from TMD out of 452 cases reporting for otalgia. Pain due to TMD does not arise from temperomandibular joint (TMJ) for the disc and articular surface of TMJ lack innervations. The causes of TMD giving rise to otalgia are varied and complex. The contributory factors can be local, less commonly due to systemic causes such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout, but most commonly due to psychosomatic disorder for psychological stress plays a major role in causation of TMD.