Is a heating pad or cold compress ok to use for pain?

That pain sounds" dental"- Are you clamping your jaw or grinding your teeth while you sleep? Your description is exactly the kind of pain I get when I don't wear a tooth guard at night.( I am an inveterate grinder/clamper/worried person!)
Your teeth surfaces will tell the tale, if you get them checked by a dentist. Because of your more threatening cancer, simpler explanations may be going unchecked? Anyway it's an idea.

Thanks for your reply. I have considered a dental problem, but don't think that's it. I see my dentist twice a year, get x-rays and all that, but never have any problem. But there is a first time for everything. I have an appointment coming up next week. The problem seems to be more with the glands and lymph nodes in the tender area. I told my oncologist about it, but he's more of a listener than a teller. He only referred to the two cancers I had in that ear two or three years ago. Maybe the treatment for lymphoma also works for other types of cancer as well. It would be interesting to know. I had arthritis in my hands that frequently caused pain, and that problem vanished after the first chemo treatment. There was also an area on an upper arm that would ache like the dickens when I drove for half an hour or more. My GP said that was arthritis too. That problem also went away. My urologist suspected that I had prostate cancer, but my cardiologist vetoed a biopsy. The symptoms of that problem also went away. I will be getting another PET scan soon, and maybe that will provide some answers.

My cancer SCC began in my ear and spread into bone before it started causing pain. I had pain radiating behind and around my ear that became worse over months. I used Tylenol and Ibuprofen around the clock and at night used a little pain patch or two (brand Salonpas) around my ear on my neck and cheek. That helped me sleep at night. During all the months of searching for a diagnosis, I also used cold compresses as heat seemed to aggravate rather than soothe. It took multiple scans to find the cause of my pain, and finally a biopsy from ear canal was done to ID the SCC. Surgery was such a relief to be rid of the pain. Unfortunately I have had metastatic disease to battle for the last 11 years. Keep looking for the source of the pain is my recommendation. Good luck.

Thanks for your reply. I went to my dentist today, and he checked my teeth, also an x-ray, found nothing. He thinks maybe I grind my teeth at night. He may be right. Night time is when I sometimes experience bone pain.
I'll be getting another round of chemo next week. They give me prednisone for 5 days, and that has taken care of my pain in the past. If the dentist is right, the cortisone should fix it.

I had squamous cell cancer in my troublesome ear, had two Moh's surgeries with grafts. I hope that isn't coming back. If it is, maybe the chemo is attack it too, causing a more drastic response.

Good luck with your treatments.