I've been having the outer ear severe pain intermittently for about a few years now. No redness, both ears, mostly at night, but occasionally during the day. I was concerned that it was relapsing polychondritis, so went to my ENT doc. I told him that when it happens, I massage the ear with moisturizer and the pain subsides very quickly. That info plus the lack of infection or redness made it clear to him that it isn't RP, which was a relief. There's no way a pillow with a hole would help me - I'm a back sleeper. Just wanted to let you all know about massaging the ear with moisturizer (I use Eminence coconut moisturizer) but I don't think the brand matters. I find that if I moisturize the ears before sleeping, it minimizes the occurances.