Endogenous Pain Inhibition Deficiency in Chronic TMD Pain
Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) involve a range of conditions with varied causes, affecting a large portion of the U.S. population and posing challenges for diagnosis and management, especially in chronic cases. Despite advances in understanding TMD pathophysiology, the role of central sensitization, particularly deficient endogenous pain inhibition, remains unclear. The conditioned pain modulation (CPM) test, used to assess pain inhibition in chronic TMD pain, has produced inconsistent results due to varying testing parameters. The proposed cross-sectional study will investigate the efficiency of endogenous pain inhibition in individuals with chronic TMD pain compared to controls by applying noxious and non-noxious stimuli to facial and non-facial sites. The findings aim to clarify the impact of weaker pain inhibition over the face, how the conditioning stimulus' painfulness affects inhibition and the relationship between pain inhibition and fluctuations in TMD pain intensity.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: To be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet all the following criteria: 1. Provide informed consent, documented in a signed and dated form. 2. Will comply with all study procedures, including daily ratings filling before and after the in-person study visit, and be available for the study duration. 3. All participants of both genders between ages 18 to 74 years. 4. Cases and controls will be matched for age within ±5 years, and all participants must understand English commands to follow study procedures (e.g., during CPM testing). Pain-free controls: 1. Age matching (within ±5 years) 2. No previous diagnosis for the most common pain-related TMD as defined in the DC/TMD criteria (myalgia, arthralgia, headache attributed to TMD) 3. No significant orofacial pain (jaw pain, TMJ pain) in the past 3 months (""significant"" meaning 5 or more days in any month or any pain during the past month) 4. No report of significant pain in the last 3 months el