Ear pain
 

For at least over a month now I have had pain in both ears. More so my right.The pain is actually inside the ears (feels deep), and I have a hard time describing it. It doesn't feel like a fullness nor pressure. It feels like what it would feel like if you stuck a cotton bud too far into the ear,and the ear would then ache. But this ache is magnified many times over. The outside of my ears do not hurt and my hearing is fine.

A while back if anyone recalls I had atypical facial pain,and I couldn't figure out weather it was TN or TMJ or whatever else. That has disapated almost entirely,but my ear pain is my new problem.

I have never had any troubles with me ears before so this is new to me,and I don't know if this could be related to my PN?

Thanks for any advice-

Cheers

Some things to check out..
 

Are you running any fever?..And do you have sinus problems? Have they looked at your ears lately?

I had those bone deep piercing pains with a sinus blockage. The mucus was unable to drain. I didn't run any fever with it.

Billye

Hi Billye
 

Thanks for reply. I don't think I have a fever and I am not having any problems with my sinuses. My husband asked me the same question cause he is the KING of ear problems.

It also has lasted at least a month now with no signs of abating so I am starting to worry.

Hi Aussie, is there an equivalent in Sydney to the Eye and Ear hospital we have in Melbourne ? if so, might be worth getting checked out properly if your local GP can't help you, i hope it's something minor that can be rectified easily.
good luck
Brian :)

Hi Aussie,

When I had this ear pain happen; it was coming from my neck; occipital neuralgia. Just a thought because I went through a lot of testing. But my PM explained that the nerves are so tight or congested in the neck (and of course every nerve runs through your neck), that there is "crosstalk". And something about the nerves talking to the auditory nerves. Anyway, once I had injections done and eventually a fusion; the pain in my ears stopped.

And to be honest, I could even see where TMJ could cause this too.

But, if nothing else, yes I would check with an ENT.

Anyway, I could never figure out what it was either and it was very, very painful. But, nope, no infections, no sinus problems, hearing tests were fine, etc., just the nerves causing it.

I wonder...
 

have you had an MRI of the neck/head? To see if you have Arnold Chiari Malformation? I understand that ear pain may occur with this problem.

Can you pop your ears? If not you have swollen tissue in the throat or
blocked eustachian tubes. That needs an ENT doctor.

Thank you for replies
 

You have convinced me to go see my GP and I will ask him for an ENT referral. One month of bad ear pain in both ears is enough.

Thank you


PS. The last time I had an MRI of my head was 3 years ago. I recently had a CT scan, I will post results when I find it.My husband put all my films in the garage. We are talking years of films, mine and his. I have to dig it out.

Mrs. D.

What do you mean:

Can you pop your ears???


Thanks, Melody

Gently holding your nose closed with your fingers you blow carefully, not hard,
and the air will back up thru the eustachian tubes and inflate them (they can collapse), and you hear a popping sound-boink.

They should pop. If not then the tube is inflamed and collapsed and indicates either the tonsils/adenoids are blocking it (this happened with my son) or
they are infected. Increased fluid build up in the ears leads to pain, infection and/or ruptured ear drums. Some people with chronic allergies get fluid build up in the ears behind the ear drum. Too much pressure and dizziness will occur.

Hi Mrs. D.

I know me, if I did that, and I did it wrong, I would immediately think "oh my god, there's something wrong with my ear, I must be inflamed, blah blah". I don't want to do that to my self anymore.

See, I know how my brain works. The next time I blow my nose, I'll probably be so careful, Alan will look at me like I lost my mind.

In the past, I would blow so forcefully, the room would spin. Alan told me "don't blow so hard". Ever since I stopped doing that, everything is fine. I do it nice and gently.

I learned from that experience.

In my book, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Right now, my neck is killing me because of my arthritis. Guess what I put on today? And it worked great. TIGER BALM.

Gotta love this stuff.

The weather here is nuts. In the a.m. it's nice, in the p.m. it's cold, then later on it got nice again, then bam, it's freezing outside.

My poor body doesn't know if it's coming or going.

I'll tell you, SOMEDAY, I'M MOVING TO THE DESERT. DON'T KNOW WHEN!!! BUT I'M MOVING!!

mel
 

don't do it unless you have to,but my mom had us do it as kids,same
with my kids ,you will know when that ear pops.. ps aussi your waiting
far to long to go to dr. my secret wait around to long going to
have more trouble ,look at me, mel you look pretty. sue

Thanks guys
 

Mrs D,

I don't think I can pop. I tried,and I felt something happening,but no pop.

Oh, I remember when my ears popped.

Every single time I got off of a plane, sometimes, it would be an hour later, sometimes it would be a few minutes after landing, but the pain in my ear and then I would hear this (I can't even reproduce the sound in my ear), but they would pop.

I hate flying for that reason.

I would always wonder "how on earth do the stewardesses and other staff do this day in and day out?" I could never understand how they took the cabin pressure.

Just an update on me ears.
 

I did go see me GP today and there is no inflammation in the ears nor wax builtup. The GP reckons this is probably related to the jaw & facial pain I had and have. I am to do these jaw exercises for now and see how I go.

If it gets worse he will refer me onwards,but this may just be neurological.

Aussie,

I tend to agree with GP having gone through this. I also know my boss had Trigeminal Neuralgia..not TMJ. But I do remember him talking about not only his face but his ears too. And like I said, mine was from occipital neuralgia/cervicogenic headaches. So, yes, it may very well be neurological. I did blow out my eardrum about a year ago from swimming/allergies. The pain then was quite different. The neuralgia type felt like a deep, inner earache all the time with tinnitus. And it SEEMED like everything I heard was magnified. I could just lay in bed and hear my heart beating loud and clear...it was weird! One of the first things the doc did was to order a brain MRI looking for accoustic neuromas and then hearing tests, both came out okay. Then it was a cervical MRI. And that's where and why I was having that kind of pain along with severe occipital pressure. I hope you can get this resolved as I know it is quite painful.

Hi Kathy,

You described exactly what I am feeling.It's not a normal ache like swimmers ear or from wax. It's very deep. I also have alot of pressure in my head with tinnitus.the tinniutis doesn't really bother me to be honest. It's the pain in the ears. But I also have a stiff jaw, so that's where the TMJ diagnosis was given to me. Who knows it will probably go away on it's own hopefully. This seems to be the case with me. I have very odd pains here and there that hang out for a few months and then abate enough not be be so much of a worry anymore. Once in a while my hearing is very dull. I remember for about 3 seconds once I cold not hear anything and I got really worried,but it resumed after a couple of seconds. Very scary though.