Severe ear pain
Hello all, I know I have posted about having ear pain before but it has gotten so much worse. Am now taking vicoden for the pain and have been for the last few days. Christmas day was when this last episode began and it has not fully gone away. I am at a loss as to what to do. My doctor says then next step is ear tubes........in a 51 yr old.........but will try anything at this point. The pain begins in my right ear and goes down to the bottom of my jaw on the right side. It has gotten to the point now that when I turn my head to the left I get pain in the back of my neck and my right ear. What would you all suggest? I do have a dentist appointment tomorrow to rule out a tooth infection.......I have no tooth pain......abd after the dentist appointment I am unsure just what I should do? But I do know I am getting real tired of all this pain! Thanks so much, Shari

based on you description i have the exact same thing. For me it was a cross between tmj and referred myofacial pain from my neck. I would see a good tmj doctor or visit you closest craniofacial pain clinic for an evaluation. Also i found pseudafed and antihistamines made it much worse for me as a trigger if you are using either try stopping it as see what happens. Depending on how bad it is you may want to ask about zanaflex or soma as an alternative to vicoden, a good mouth guard and, if available trigger point injections to your neck if the muscles are tender there. I went alot of years with ear pain and no neck problem then then when i went to see a good tmj doctor he found out it was connected in my case. ALso you could try a physical thearpist but they are costly if that isnt your problem. THis may not completely fix the problem since i still have some pain but it is much much more managable. Hope some of this is helpful.

Did your ENT say there was reddness and infection in the ear or did he say there was fluid in the ear?

I was told ETD (estacian tube dysfunction) for years but it appears to have been wrong. Im not sure exactly what entails ETD i just know i dont really have it. You should have them verify that you have an infection with a blood test or something if they tell you that. Doctors often just guess without checking but I dont know your doctor