ellienewfan
@ellienewfan
@ellienewfan
Posts: 9
Joined: Feb 04, 2013
extreme outer ear pain
Please….someone help me.
I’ve visited my allergist, an ear-nose-throat specialist and my own internist.
None of them have ever heard of my problem and don’t know how to help me.
Started approx 20 yrs ago, Every couple of months I would get an awful pain on one of my ears if I had been laying on it during the night. It would happen to either ear, whichever one I laid on.
To describe the pain. It is so intense that it wakes me. Pain is NOT inside the ear but around the edges of the entrance of it. It is so painful, I can’t touch it. It will be throbbing. It also hurts tremendously behind, towards the bottom back of the ear. Can’t touch that either. The only thing that will make it go away is when I then get up and stand and within approx 30 min it is gone. I even tested it by massaging behind the ear (once I could bear to touch it) and it seemed to make pain go away faster.
The last approx 3 years, I have no longer been able to even lay on either ear when in bed because now the pain will come every time. I have learned to sleep on my back. Sometimes I would still move onto my side during night, and wake up with pain.
For last 6 months, I’ve been having pressure and achy feeling around one of the ears, even while laying on my back. Then I started getting the pain even while sleeping on my back.
I am very much afraid that the day will come when I will no longer be able to lay down in my bed to go to sleep.
I am desperate to get to the bottom of this and perhaps for first time in 20 years be able to comfortably lay on my side in bed.
My ENT doctor said my ears are healthy …. i have no hearing loss.
This ear pain, however, is starting to affect my daily living, since I don’t seem to be able to get the restful sleep I need.
I will be forever grateful if someone could pinpoint this. thanks.
Liked by Gail, Alumna Mentor, lioness
lioness
@lioness
@lioness
Posts: 5031
Joined: Jan 09, 2018
@marlaj @happyat76 @lioness @anniemaggie @nibor63 @franjan @angeloneday @poetny
Hi everyone! It is nice to see that I am not crazy and a group of us exist who understand each other's miserable ear pain.
We seem to have some variances associated with the pain as well as some similarities. I wonder how many of us share any of the following:
*Severe pain affecting both ears, mainly when lying on one's side with the head and ear resting against the pillow (My ears cannot touch anything during sleep, including a pillow.)
*Autoimmune disease
*Above average stress level
*Small fiber neuropathy
*Raynaud's
*Definitely over age 29, 39 or higher! 😉
In regards to the foggy vision and vertigo, see your primary physician as well as an ophthalmologist and ENT, respectively.
Note regarding relapsing polychondritis but the specialist that I saw for this said that with that condition, there will be gradual deformity of the ear; generally the ear enlarged and the top of the ear will droop. I do not have the physical characteristics.
@marlaj appt .made for ENT ,opthamalogist also
livetheday
@livetheday
@livetheday
Posts: 17
Joined: May 28, 2018
I am going to ask the clinic I go to for name of the anti, I took. Not sure if that was what helped, but issue went away. It has been a no. of years ago.
Have you ever considered a Chinese herbalist Dr? Sometimes herbs do more good that all the meds we are told to take. (please keep in mind, do not stop taking meds without consulting professionals). Some of these Dr.'s also do acupuncture, which might help??
One more question. Is it possible to talk to people on phone or in a group setting, in person. I happen to live somewhat close to Rochester.
Good Luck!
Nibor63
@nibor63
@nibor63
Posts: 62
Joined: May 16, 2017
My anti-inflammatory helps. Hasn't cured anything, but at least I can sleep through the night now.
Liked by Teresa, Volunteer Mentor
lioness
@lioness
@lioness
Posts: 5031
Joined: Jan 09, 2018
Nibor63
@nibor63
@nibor63
Posts: 62
Joined: May 16, 2017
lioness
@lioness
@lioness
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jeanette527
@jeanette527
@jeanette527
Posts: 13
Joined: Jul 17, 2018
I had a lot of pain in the cartlidge of my outer ear and ear lobe for several weeks. The doctor tried antibiotics and then suggested an ENT when that didn't work. In the meantime, I went to the chiropractor for another problem and after the treatment the ear pain was totally gone and has never returned.
Perhaps that might help you.
Liked by Teresa, Volunteer Mentor, lioness
@ellienewfan at least i’m not alone in this. no redness, no swelling, etc. Doctors i saw (ear, nose, throat doc.; my own internist; had exrays and MRI) looked at me funny when i tried to explain my situation. thanks @bearylynn,i also have been bunching up a pillow so there is least amount of touching my ear. i seem to be able to somewhat lay on my left side, but my right cannot abide it. in fact if i even lay on right side even without anything touching my ear, i’ll still get it.terrible pain. i am currently 72, and think that perhaps i’ll never get rid of this and must suffer with this for rest of my life.
I have exactly the same problem, as well as doing all kinds of configurations with the pillows and also using my hands to stop my ears touching the pillow. But I have found some relief from the pain in the last two nights for the first time. I have thought maybe its something to do with the circulation to the extremities of the ear. My earlobes are so painful and the thought of dying flesh screaming is what comes for mind. For the first time I have raised my head higher during sleep with two pillows, fairly soft feathed. Without manipulation of the pillows of using my hands and with my ears touching the pillow I can say I haven't felt any pain. How do I account for this? I'm not an expert, I only have my experience to go by but its logical to me that if you suffer from this condition you must find the position for your neck which gives your arteries the best flow to the ears without blocking them. You can only try it, yourself and lets face it it's more painful not to try. I find it unbelievable that I can rest my ears on a pillow without excruciating pain after all these years, but I can and this is the only explanation i can find AZ i already take calcium and vitamins everyday of my life and it isn't the answer cor me.
Liked by franjan
@jeanette527 I had a lot of pain in the cartlidge of my outer ear and ear lobe for several weeks. The doctor tried antibiotics and then suggested an ENT when that didn't work. In the meantime, I went to the chiropractor for another problem and after the treatment the ear pain was totally gone and has never returned.
Perhaps that might help you.
Please look at my post to elleinewfan, it might help you. Denben
Nibor63
@nibor63
@nibor63
Posts: 62
Joined: May 16, 2017
@denben I have exactly the same problem, as well as doing all kinds of configurations with the pillows and also using my hands to stop my ears touching the pillow. But I have found some relief from the pain in the last two nights for the first time. I have thought maybe its something to do with the circulation to the extremities of the ear. My earlobes are so painful and the thought of dying flesh screaming is what comes for mind. For the first time I have raised my head higher during sleep with two pillows, fairly soft feathed. Without manipulation of the pillows of using my hands and with my ears touching the pillow I can say I haven't felt any pain. How do I account for this? I'm not an expert, I only have my experience to go by but its logical to me that if you suffer from this condition you must find the position for your neck which gives your arteries the best flow to the ears without blocking them. You can only try it, yourself and lets face it it's more painful not to try. I find it unbelievable that I can rest my ears on a pillow without excruciating pain after all these years, but I can and this is the only explanation i can find AZ i already take calcium and vitamins everyday of my life and it isn't the answer cor me.
Meloxicam!!! Only relief that I've found.
gls58
@gls58
@gls58
Posts: 15
Joined: Mar 31, 2017
I've posted before trying to find answers or share any small successes. I haven't had any ear pain for about a month now. I don't know if it's elevation or position, but I had to start sleeping on my couch because I can only sleep on my sides. This caused my hips to hurt all the time from the pressure. Switching to the couch, my head is more elevated and I'm able to sleep at an angle instead of directly on my sides. It fixed the hip problem and my ear pressure problem went away as well. I don't know why, I just know it's such a relief not to be woken every hour because my ears are screaming in pain. Hope this helps someone else. I know many of the posts are a bit different to the type of pain I experience, but a significant number exactly describe what I feel like. It's like I've bent my ear cartilage over and pressed it against my head.
franjan
@franjan
@franjan
Posts: 6
Joined: Apr 17, 2017
@denben I have exactly the same problem, as well as doing all kinds of configurations with the pillows and also using my hands to stop my ears touching the pillow. But I have found some relief from the pain in the last two nights for the first time. I have thought maybe its something to do with the circulation to the extremities of the ear. My earlobes are so painful and the thought of dying flesh screaming is what comes for mind. For the first time I have raised my head higher during sleep with two pillows, fairly soft feathed. Without manipulation of the pillows of using my hands and with my ears touching the pillow I can say I haven't felt any pain. How do I account for this? I'm not an expert, I only have my experience to go by but its logical to me that if you suffer from this condition you must find the position for your neck which gives your arteries the best flow to the ears without blocking them. You can only try it, yourself and lets face it it's more painful not to try. I find it unbelievable that I can rest my ears on a pillow without excruciating pain after all these years, but I can and this is the only explanation i can find AZ i already take calcium and vitamins everyday of my life and it isn't the answer cor me.
Thanks denben for your post. It does stand to reason that some of our ear problems may be from not getting enough blood flow. My painful ear seems plastered to my head when I get up in the morning. And I’ve noticed that the upper cartilage in that ear is much softer than the one I don’t sleep on.
Nibor63
@nibor63
@nibor63
Posts: 62
Joined: May 16, 2017
@franjan Thanks denben for your post. It does stand to reason that some of our ear problems may be from not getting enough blood flow. My painful ear seems plastered to my head when I get up in the morning. And I’ve noticed that the upper cartilage in that ear is much softer than the one I don’t sleep on.
I had biopsy of my ear tissue, and doc said it was inflammation.
lioness
@lioness
@lioness
Posts: 5031
Joined: Jan 09, 2018
@nibor63
In reply to @marlaj
Are there any men in this group? I have all of that. It is NOT Relapsing Polychondritis!