Trigger point · Jaw

Masseter — deep layer

The point that presents as an ear problem. The deep layer of the masseter lies against the jaw joint, and its referral goes into the ear — a deep ache inside the ear, and for some people a low roaring or ringing sensation on that side. It is the classic ear pain with a normal ear examination. Clients arrive having been told there is nothing wrong, because there is nothing wrong with the ear: the tissue producing the sensation is the muscle beside it. Treating the deep masseter is unglamorous work in a small space, and it is one of the few things in manual therapy that can change a symptom the client had stopped believing was musculoskeletal at all.