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

[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.