Pain in the right ear radiating to the right shoulder

@michaelmel I would like to welcome you to Connect. Ten years is a long time to have a problem. This sounds like it may be some type of muscle spasm. I have had similar pains and I have thoracic outlet syndrome as well as being a cervical spine surgery patient. The head and neck are tied to the shoulder and shoulder blade by muscle. It is also common for a spine problem in the neck to cause pain in a shoulder blade.

Poor slouching posture and a forward head position will also cause problems and pain. You may want to consider an evaluation with a physical therapist. My PT also does myofascial release which helps loosen tight tissue and gets the body back in proper alignment. Sometimes a muscle spasm can independently turn one of my cervical vertebrae and that will cause headaches and neck pain. It can get my jaw misaligned and tweak the muscles that turn the head connecting near the ear. There are so many possibilities of what could be causing your pain. A physical therapist would be a very good start.

Here is our discussion about myofascial release. https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

Have you heard of myofascial release or worked with a physical therapist before?

Thanks for taking the time to answer! I appreciate it..

"Have you heard of myofascial release"
No, didn't hear of it and also not yet worked with

"worked with a physical therapist before?"
Yes, I was treated by a physiotherapist for a while,
but I did not see a result so I stopped.

I have the same problem on the left side. Complicating matters is that my left ear hearing is much worse than my right, leading Mayo to wonder if I have an acoustic neuroma. But let’s set that aside for a moment. I’m having good results with going to my chiropractor, who is stretching some muscles in my neck and face. The pain is better and the periods of time between pains is getting longer. I am staying in touch with my ENT at Mayo, who will order imaging if the pain gets worse or occurs more often. My chiropractor works closely with the physical therapy dept so if I need that he will let me know. Best of luck to you and please post again to let us know how you are doing.

Wow, I felt like I was the only one having these issues! Ive had TMJ for years and would a occasionally get "ear headaches" on the right side. But over a year now I have tight right shoulder blade pain and horrible ear pain, ringing and clicking. My ear cartilage swells up and recently the muscles on back right side of my head are tight and sore. My primary doctor suggested physical therapy, had 30 sessions and did not help, primary said it's all muscular. Seeing chiropractor did not help. Saw orthopedic doctor who ordered MRI of neck which showed some arthritis in C5 and C6, nothing alarming but suggested nerve block but that makes me nervous. An ENT suggested myofacial pain clinic... still researching that...I've never heard of that before now. I'm going to ask ENT to order a CT scan. I'm trying to find the root cause so I can get the proper treatment plan and get some relief.

@cjay777 I have those same symptoms and fascial work does help me. I also have cervical spine issues and fused C5 C6 with thoracic outlet syndrome. Spasms will cause my vertebrae to move and often they rotate slightly and that causes pain by stretching some attached muscles. If I release the tension in the muscles and fascia it all calms down. My physical therapist does myofascial release which is the technique to loosen the tissue. Please see our discussion on Myofascial Release in the Neuropathy group.