muscle spasm? ear infection? i have no idea

[rmd]

so, for several days, now, i've been getting occasional stabbing shooting pains in and around my right ear. i've tried muscle relaxants, decongestants, heat, long hot showers, and hitting myself on the side of my head repeatedly with the heel of my hand. nothing seems to stop it. nyquil helps somewhat, but that's at least partially because it's old formula nyquil, with all the "don't make any plans" goodness.

i can hear fine, and my ears seem to "pop" as they should if i pressurize or depressurize my sinuses.

i also have a cold sore on my lip and some kind of blister/burn/scrape on the ridge of the roof of my mouth. my nose has stopped running quite so much, tho.

it's really starting to annoy me, tho.

Comments

[hanseth.livejournal.com]

This sounds like it really sucks. I wish I knew what was wrong.

[johnromkey.livejournal.com]

Alien parasite? Perhaps an Russian doomsday cult has taken up residence in your right ear?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

dammit, and i just evicted the japanese apocalyptic cult from between my toes.

[i-leonardo.livejournal.com]

same symptoms i had a number of years back when i got a wicked ear infection: they cause a disproportionate amount of pain, so even a minor one has the potential to induce a great deal of misery.

can't hurt to check in with an ENT.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

yeah, i figure i'll take a swing by the walk-in clinic late today or some time tomorrow.

[poodlgrl.livejournal.com]

You have an ear infection. If it's been 5 days, you probably need some antibiotics. Go to the doctor!

[keren-s.livejournal.com]

Botany Bay? Botany Bay?!! Oh No!
I hope its not a Ceti Eel!

[firni.livejournal.com]

You owe me a new keyboard, Chekov.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

I also vote for ear infection. I had something like this a couple of years ago, like occasionally being stabbed in the head with an ice pick for a second at a time. When I went to have it checked out, it turned out to be otitis media. A couple of days' worth of antibiotics should clear it up.

[coraline]

yup, sounds like an ear infection to me... go get it checked out.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

Let me guess: the pains feel like someone has jabbed an icepick in your ear, let it sit there wiggling around for about 10 seconds or less, then removed the icepick?

It's a middle or inner ear infection. Nothing you can do to depressurize / clear out the outer ear will fix it. Oh, it might feel better for 5 minutes, but you're putting a finger in a dike that's leaking worse and worse. You need antibiotics. They will also put you on heavy duty decongestants and antihistimines, even if you don't think your head is stuffed. I know this because I regularly get the same ear infection about a week after a "runny nose" or "post nasal drip" cold has cleared up.

[evwhore.livejournal.com]

you're putting a finger in a dike

*cough*

[laurenpburka.livejournal.com]

I know you're not actually asking for a diagnosis, and everyone else has already said 'ear infection,' but I just had to point this out:

Now that we have this cool interactive internet thingie, people are awfully quick to post that they have some symptom or another, and to ask for people to tell them what to do. It's not always a good idea. I'm waiting for someone to say "I have this pain in my chest. Can someone recommend an herbal tea?"

That said, I hope you get to see the doctor quickly and everything clears up soonish. Also, you can get some temporary relief by applying a little warm olive oil to the inside of the ear. This does not fix the ear infection, and a pharmacist told me it works so well that he's reluctant to tell parents about it because he's afraid it will work on their kids and they won't go to the doctor.

[drwex]

That sounds REALLY annoying. I hope it gets better soon.

[firni.livejournal.com]

Hopefully it's an ear infection, because the other possibility really sucks ass.

http://stoppain.org/pain_medicine/content/chronicpain/trigeminal.asp