Ear, ear, what's going on ear then?

May 30, 2007 5:24 AM

Why does my ear always hurt? (and apologies for awful puns) inside

Many apologies for the horrific pun in the title.

For approximately five years now, I have been suffering a level of discomfort in my left ear. This varies over time from uncomfortable to a consistent level of pain which stops me sleeping etc.

It feels like the ear is continually over pressure and I continually clear it either by pinching my nose and blowing or by waggling my jaw. The area also often feels hotter when it's more painful.

I have recently seen both an Ear Nose & Throat surgeon about this (twice) and a maxillofacial surgeon (again twice) who did various pieces of poking and prodding but were not able to find any cause of pain. They seem to be a bit stumped as to what to do next so I was hoping that the genius of MetaFilter would be able to come up with some decent sugestions as to what to do now?

The ear in question has been examined inside and out and both my GP and both surgeons swear blind there's no build up of wax!

Any suggestions would be much appreciated as it's pretty uncomfortable pretty much all of the time.]

Thanks

I

posted by eb98jdb to Health & Fitness (19 answers total)

Mine was caused by allergies, although it was both ears, and I blamed it on a weight gain narrowing the tubes so it was harder to keep them draining. If it's only one ear, maybe your head is funny on one side and it's congenitally narrower? Do you sleep on one side? Have you ever broken the eardrum? Have you tried taking Benadryl at night for a few times to see if it gets better? Or some other, non drowsy allergy med? Could it be referred pain from a bad tooth? Those nerves are pretty close together.
IANAD or D. If that were my ear, and the doctors don't have much of an idea, I'd be tempted to show it to a dentist though.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:41 AM on May 30, 2007

You could throw some decongestant at it and see what happens, too.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:43 AM on May 30, 2007

Sorry, you've shown it to the dental equivalent already. Never mind that bit.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 5:44 AM on May 30, 2007

About four months after I rolled my car, while cleaning my ear with a q-tip, a small chunk of safety glass came out of my ear. For the first few days after the accident I had moderate pain, but then it came and went to varying degrees afterwards, I suppose as the glass moved around in there. About 3 weeks after the glass, a small rock came out in a similar manner. (Yes, both times it freaked me out)

I hadn't realised it at the time, but this had also caused a decrease in my hearing (duh). After the clearings, no more pain, restored hearing in that ear.

Jokes about rocks in my head aside, I had seen a doctor several times about the problem, and they couldn't identify the problem.
Perhaps an x-ray could reveal something lodged behind your eardrum somehow that the doctor overlooked?
posted by friedrice at 5:52 AM on May 30, 2007

Response by poster: Hello foks,

Unfortunately have tried decongestants and anti-allergens to no avail AND the dental surgeon x-rayed my head and didn't see anything unusual unfortnately.

Any other ideas?
posted by eb98jdb at 5:57 AM on May 30, 2007

I went to a ENT the other day with a similar problem, only I have randomly occurring ear pains rather than constant. The Doctor thinks it has to do with my jaw joint catching & popping. When he puts his hand to my jaw, he can feel the popping and grinding moreso than a normal person. If the problem persists on my end, he'll send me to another doctor (I'm not sure what kind) to have them check out my jaw specifically. Luckily, he said I don't need the jaw-breaking surgery, but rather they now have mouthguards which help to realign the jaw to not grind.

If it's five years of pain, I would chalk this up to something more structural (jaw, ear canal issues, etc) rather than something temporary (wax, tooth pain, etc).

When you say you saw the surgeon twice, was it the same ones or different ones? I've had wildly different results depending on the ENT I go to.
posted by jmd82 at 6:14 AM on May 30, 2007

Maybe you have a wrong sleeping posture, check out this site it's from a friend dentist of mine. On my personal experience, I had some clicks in jaw and they went away just by changing sleeping posture. If you find it beneficial please let me and the dentist know :)
posted by elpapacito at 6:14 AM on May 30, 2007

You don't say specifically, but can we assume the docs ruled-out some form of tinnitis? I know it's usually associated with a ringing in the ear (which you don't seem to have), but it can also be quite painful in extreme cases. Ask Pete Townshend.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:17 AM on May 30, 2007

Did the ENT give you a CT scan? I had one for my sinuses and my doc found a minorish problem with my ears, so I've been to the ENT guy as well.
posted by sutel at 6:21 AM on May 30, 2007

Response by poster: No tinnities - I don't have any noise or anything like that from my ear at all. The ear does feel bunged up though and the hearing in that ear only is slightly impaired.

I've not had a CT scan either.

Surgeon wise - I've seen the same Ear Nose & Throat surgeon 3 times. I've seen the same Maxillofacial surgeon twice.
posted by eb98jdb at 6:39 AM on May 30, 2007

Seconding the CT scan & the suggestion to try another ENT. Search function with some info on qualification is here:
http://www.entnet.org/ent_otolaryngologist.cfm
posted by yarrow at 6:40 AM on May 30, 2007

I had this problem from TMJ, which seems like an obvious possibility (and it's what jmd82 is referring to).
posted by amro at 7:48 AM on May 30, 2007

I third TMJ. But just to cheer you up, it could be cancer.
posted by Phanx at 8:12 AM on May 30, 2007

feels like the ear is continually over pressure and I continually clear it either by pinching my nose and blowing

Pinching your nose and blowing is the cure for an underpressured ear. Eardrums that are underpressured feel a lot like eardrums that have too much pressure behind them.

Maybe it's just
Eustachian Tube Problems
A much more common problem is a failure of the Eustachian tube to regulate pressure effectively. Partial or complete blockage of the Eustachian tube can cause popping, clicking, and ear fullness.

As Eustachian tube function worsens, air pressure in the middle ear falls, and the ear feels full and sounds are muffled. Eventually, a vacuum is created which can then cause fluid to be drawn into the middle ear space (termed serous otitis media). If the fluid becomes infected, the common ear infection (supperative otitis media) develops.
posted by yohko at 8:40 AM on May 30, 2007

It sounds as if you might have glue ear:

Glue ear is a painless condition in which thick, sticky fluid collects behind the eardrum. The fluid blocks the middle part of the ear and can cause impaired hearing.
posted by jamjam at 8:45 AM on May 30, 2007

jamjam, since the OP's main symptom is pain, glue ear makes no sense as a possibility.
posted by amro at 8:48 AM on May 30, 2007

It could be chronic Swimmer's Ear which is a bacterial infection in the outer ear canal.
posted by euphorb at 9:52 AM on May 30, 2007

There are several kinds of otitis media:

1. Acute otitis media is an infection that produces pus, fluid, and inflammation within the middle ear. It is frequently associated with signs of upper respiratory infection, such as a runny nose or stuffy nose. It is painful, but usually self-limiting. The most serious, but rare, complication Mastoiditis - an infection of the bone around the ear.
2. Otitis media with effusion, (or Glue Ear) formerly termed serous Otitis Media or secretory Otitis Media, is Middle Ear Effusion of any duration that lacks the associated signs and symptoms of infection (eg, fever, otalgia, irritability), but causes hearing problems. Otitis Media with Effusion usually follows an episode of Acute Otitis Media.


Please note the last sentence, amro. I have read accounts which have mentioned painful pressure on the ear drum associated with Glue Ear when the fluid builds up, as I recall, but it's different in kind from the (extreme) pain associated with ear infection, and I thought it might be consistent with the symptoms described by eb98jdb.
posted by jamjam at 10:09 AM on May 30, 2007

The poster has had pain for five years, so it's unlikely to be anything termed "acute." Acute otitis media, in particular, only lasts a few days to a week.
posted by amro at 11:06 AM on May 30, 2007