Husband's neck pain

  My husband is 48 years old and has high blood pressure.  His blood pressure is controlled by medicine (Ziac).  Every once in a while, he complains about a pain on the left side of his neck running between his ear and the bottom of his jaw.  This is so painful at times that he cannot sleep.  He has told his doctor about this and he seems unconcerned.  He has no other symptoms-no shortness of breath, chest pains, or numbness.  I do not know much about the arteries, but I think there is one located right where my husband is complaining of the pain.  A friend of ours' mother had this artery "cleaned out".  Last night, he was awake and in pain.  I am very concerned that this is a sign of something that may eventually lead to a heart attack or stoke.  Can you shed any light on this?  What could this pain possibly be?  What steps/tests does he need to have rule out  that this is not life-threatening?
  Thank you so much
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Dear Suzanne,
Thank you for your question.  Neck pain may be due to a variety of different things.  Some of the potential causes are musculoskeletal (bone and muscle pain), nerve pain, referred pain from back and internal organs and spasm.  Arteries do not cause pain.  I would recommend your husband see his doctor to sort out the cause of his difficulties.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.