{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:26:40Z","timestamp":1760059600203,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"13","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]],"date-time":"2025-06-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750723200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Chronic stress has an undeniable effect in generating emotional disorders and physiological changes. It results in excessive muscle tension throughout the body, also in the masticatory system. A situation of chronic stress was the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this paper was to assess the prevalence of specific masticatory pain symptoms, their severity, and the co-occurrence of associated symptoms (otological symptoms and headaches) in patients diagnosed before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A total of 202 patients were divided into two groups: Group A (mean age of 36.46; F = 64; and M = 37) and B (mean age of 26.04; F = 70; and M = 31) included patients who presented for the study before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. The Oral Behaviours Checklist (OBC) questionnaire was used: patients with result \u22652 scores in the OBC were evaluated by DC\/TMD. To evaluate the intensity of pain in masticatory structures, the elements of the RDC-TMD questionnaire were used. Otologic symptoms and headaches were assessed as coexisted complaints. Results: A significant increase in pain occurrence was observed in Group B mainly for masseter muscles (p &lt; 0.0001), temporalis (p = 0.0044), and medial pterygoid muscles (p = 0.0153). A significantly more frequent reporting of pain\/tenderness was observed among men in most of the evaluated muscles. For the lateral pterygoid muscles, changes in palpation pain did not reach statistical significance. There was a statistically significant difference in the intensity of pain in the temporomandibular joint area between both the entire groups A and B (p = 0.000152), as well as between women in Group A and B (p = 0.006453) and men in the study groups (p = 0.007990). An increase in the incidence of headaches was observed among men in Group B (Group A with 40.6% vs. Group B with 67.3%). The most commonly reported otological symptom in both groups was ear pain and\/or discomfort in the preauricular region, with the frequency of otological symptoms being higher in Group B. Conclusions: (1) The COVID-19 pandemic affected the incidence and severity of masticatory muscle pain and associated complaints. (2) A decrease in the age of patients reporting complaints of masticatory mm pain was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. (3) An increase in the frequency of headaches was observed in the male group during the pan-demic, while in women there was an increase in palpation tenderness of masticatory muscles.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14134473","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]],"date-time":"2025-06-24T06:49:38Z","timestamp":1750747778000},"page":"4473","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Masticatory Muscle Pain and Associated Complaints\u2014An Analysis of the Frequency and Coexistence of Symptoms Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1965-0498","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zofia","family":"Maciejewska-Szaniec","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthodontics and Temporomandibular Disorders, University of Medical Sciences, Bukowska Street 70, 60-812 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3666-5931","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara","family":"Maciejewska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department and Clinic of Phoniatrics and Audiology, University of Medical Sciences, Przybyszewskiego Street 49, 60-356 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2264-6577","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ma\u0142gorzata","family":"Ga\u0142czy\u0144ska-Rusin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthodontics and Temporomandibular Disorders, University of Medical Sciences, Bukowska Street 70, 60-812 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8794-1486","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Weronika","family":"Jakubowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Risk Group Dentistry, University of Medical Sciences, Bukowska Street 70, 60-812 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8588-3241","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Natalie","family":"G\u00f3rna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthodontics and Temporomandibular Disorders, University of Medical Sciences, Bukowska Street 70, 60-812 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-0363-5145","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Izabela","family":"Ma\u0107kowiak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthodontics and Temporomandibular Disorders, University of Medical Sciences, Bukowska Street 70, 60-812 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3551-6467","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tomasz","family":"Gedrange","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department and Institute of Oral Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Krakowska Street 26, 50-425 Wroclaw, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0173-5431","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marta","family":"Kaczmarek-Ry\u015b","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Strzeszy\u0144ska Street 32, 60-479 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Agata","family":"Czajka-Jakubowska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthodontics and Temporomandibular Disorders, University of Medical Sciences, Bukowska Street 70, 60-812 Poznan, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.1007\/s10597-020-00728-y","article-title":"Prevalence, Psychological Responses and Associated Correlates of Depression, Anxiety and Stress in a Global Population, During the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic","volume":"57","author":"Shah","year":"2021","journal-title":"Community Ment. 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