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

[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*