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Nose cartilage pain, no redness or swelling

Posted by John02445 @john02445, Jul 23, 2017

Hello. About five days ago, in the middle of the afternoon, I suddenly had pain on the lower right side of my nose. if I didn't touch this area, the pain was about a 2 out of 10, but when I would press the outside of my nose at all the pain would increase to around a 6 out of 10. I had no redness or swelling, no nasal drip, and no pain across the bridge of my nose. This pain decreased the next morning and was gone by the end of that night, without any medication.

Today, I woke up with sinus drip, though that is now gone by the evening as I type this. However, beginning a few hours ago, I now have similar pain to what I had five days go. The difference now is that it's only located on the lower left side of my nose. Again, there is no redness, no swelling and no pain around the bridge of my nose. The other difference is that today is more painful than five days ago (5 out of 10 when not touched, around an 8 when touched).

I am in good health otherwise and am not on any medications. I keep trying to search to see what I may have, but everyone I find who describes this type of pain also mentions having swelling and/or redness, which I do not have. My only change in behavior is recently I have started to use a shampoo with tea tree oil in it, which shouldn't trigger this type of response (so far as I can find).

My PCP is on vacation this week and the other doctor in his office is not someone I have had positive experiences with, to put it mildly. Any insights or recaps of similar incidents are appreciated.

Thanks!!

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ggrogers | @ggrogers | Dec 22, 2024
In reply to @iouuuuuu "I found this thread in a search for nose pain to see what it might be...." + (show)
Profile picture for iouuuuuu @iouuuuuu

I found this thread in a search for nose pain to see what it might be. I'm a big proponent of natural solutions and have been in the health and wellness field for 5 1/2 years. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3b melanoma cancer and beat it with no drugs and no radiation, so when I find something that helps naturally, I like to try to educate people on alternatives.

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I seriously doubt that you “beat” your melanoma without aggressively treating this cancer. Please provide us with your protocol.

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oldnoob | @oldnoob | Jun 18 10:16am

I wanted to reply to this thread because over the past few weeks i have been having a growing pain on my right side of my nose where the cartilage meets the bone. I have been quite concerned as it now hurts all the time and is extremely painful when pressed.... However i think i have figured out the cause in my case.. After dwelling on what could possibly be the cause i realized that i had bought a new camera a few weeks ago and every day i use it i have to press the view finder into my right eye to get a clear image and review the photos.. Well the other day i spent some time capturing a sunrise and reviewing the photos in the viewfinder. By the time i got home my nose was aching more and sore in one spot i figured it was a sinus infection.. but i put the camera up to my eye and WHAM there was the pain. it seems the left edge of the camera is pressing into my nose just below where the cartilage meets the bone. I think what i have done is given myself what is called a "Bone Bruise" or "Stone Bruise" I 'm going to have to get an extended eyecup so that im not jamming the camera into the side of my nose. Anyway im hoping that's what it is, as its just too coincidental.

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ckahl2020 | @ckahl2020 | Aug 19 9:51am

Cartilage nose pain as well! First started in the middle, hurt to move my nose left or right but pinching it had no pain at all. That persisted about a week and went away. Then it returned on the upper left portion near the bone, hurt again and so I went to the doctor with them telling me they don't know but here are some antibiotics just in case. Took them for 2 weeks and the pain went away, it has been about 5 days without antibiotics and now the pain is on the right side middle of the nose. I can pinch it hard with no pain but trying to move my nose right or left and here comes the pain. WHAT IS THIS? I have no swelling, no redness, no allergies, no congestion, no drainage, just pain that gradually gets worse for about a week, then disappears and then reappears apparently in other places in the nose section (only so far).

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ckahl2020 | @ckahl2020 | Aug 19 10:53am
In reply to @johnhudson922 "Hi guys, I think i'm in something of a similar situation here. In June 2019 I..." + (show)
Profile picture for johnhudson922 @johnhudson922

Hi guys, I think i'm in something of a similar situation here.

In June 2019 I began feeling pain in my nose what I assumed was Sinus pain. I didn't do much until a month later in July when I went to an urgent care and they said "yeah probably sinus infection" and I got what I think was a round of antibiotics and probably a steroid. That didn't end up doing anything, and the pain got steadily worse. I did basically the same thing a month later with a different urgent care, and in Sept i finally went to an ENT. They looked at it and said "doesn't look like much, take a Zyrtec, flush with this saline solution, use some sprays, etc". I did that for a few weeks with no results. I also got a Vicks steam making thing and religiously steamed my sinuses. While that was better than nothing, it had no lasting impact, leading me to believe that it wasn't related to dryness.

After another visit with that ENT, I visited the Ohio Sinus Institute in Dublin, OH. They seemed to be a reputable place to go for what I was experiencing. The Dr. Boris Karanfilov immediately did a CT scan and walked me through it showing me that i didn't have any congested passages, etc. Nothing visible that he noticed. He then ordered an MRI which I did and that also didn't show anything.

I also went to an allergist who ruled out any obvious allergies that could be causing my pain. My PCP suggested I ask for a scope, but the Sinus doc said there would be no point as he has already seen enough from the CT scan and MRI (So I haven't had a scope yet). The Sinus doc suggested going to a Neurologist, but I haven't at this point yet either.

My primary symptoms are pain on what feels like more of the outside of the bridge of my nose than anything. I have no real congestion, no drip, no redness or swelling, just pain that feels like almost a sunburn at times, sometimes tingly, and if anything i'd say its coming from the cartilege itself, not my "sinuses" internally. It is not 100% constant, and I even had a few weeks in January where I thought it might have gone away. My wife thinks that it is sort of created by my brain - Mind Body syndrome, Dr. Cerner, that kind of thing. Maybe stress related, etc?

Here's a few other things I am suspicious of that i'd like to get ruled out:

nasal Sarcoidosis
Relapsing Polychondritis
Multiple sclerosis
Nasal furunculosis
nasl staph infection.

I'd love to hear anyone elses thoughts about what I might have and what I should ask my doctors to look at. I'm not above going to the Mayo clinic, but as I'm in Ohio, Cleveland Clinic might happen first 😉

Thanks!

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I have done all that, the pain keeps coming back but in different sections of the nose. First was lower middle, second time was upper left near the bone and now middle right. I can pinch my cartilage and have NO pain, but if I try moving my nose left/right with either my fingers or squinching my nose...PAIN. Have you found out what you have/had?

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