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Swelling under the ear...possibly thyroid related??

Two days ago I was out in the cold for a good hour with a shirt on.  I am not sure if that has anything to do what I will be telling you, but wanted to tell you the whole story.  The next day I had some disconmfort with the left side of my jaw(I had slight pressure and pain while eating and moving the left side of the jaw).  Because I was moving my jaw laterally a lot I thought maybe that was the reason.  But this morning I wake up with definetly a bit swollen left side under the ear.  I can feel it from the outside, and it is about the width of my index and middle finger when feeling it.  It's swollen between the sternocleidomastoid muscle and the jawline.  I am not sure if it's a thyroid gland or an infection or just a thing that'll go away.  I do use qtips everyday to wipe the ear and dad always says I do go a bit furthur in than I should, so is it some kind of infection.  And i do use earphones while sleeping so is it just a swelling caused by the ear phones. Please do reply.  Anything I could do other than a doctor's appointment.
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Avatar universal
Hi my name is cody,
i contain the same problem asAJ1987 had. i have a couple questions if anyone could help me out, it would be very appreciated.
1) My infection/lump is located in the exact same spot you specified but on my right side, are you positive its a salivary infection?
2) Could it be from chewing and a start to mouth cancer.
3) and last i started to eat oranges and drink orange juice today, how long did it take for yours to go away.
Thank you very much.
-Cody
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Avatar universal
Thanks a lot guyz
I did get a chance to talk to my physician as well, but my dad had already told me(since he's a doctor too)...that it was just a salivary gland infection, I should be fine eating some citrus fruits and activating the glands.  Anyway I thought I should tell you.
thanks a lot for the opinions
-AJ
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Avatar universal
Is it still swollen today?  If so, I agree with GravesLady that you should see a doc to be diagnosed.  I swell in that area entirely too often.  For me it is usually due to a mastoid infection.  Tubes were placed in my ears around 1 year ago to help cease the infections though I have still incurred 3 more infections since ... including one right now.  :(  I will definately be making another appt. with my doc on Monday because I have thrown up for 2 days now and I am sure it is the infection.  When left untreated, it ends up following a certain path from behind the ear up to the top right side of my skull.  Please be sure and let us know what the doc says.  

GravesLady, if you are reading this, would you please tell me how to post my own question?  I posted one last month but now it won't let me post one.  It keeps going to a page that says all the allowable questions have been asked for the day (something to that affect) though I have tried several times during the day yesterday and ever since 1:00 a.m. today yet it still says the same thing.  Something must be wrong because only 3 questions were asked yesterday and zero questions today.  :(  Surely more than 3 questions are allowed here in a given day!  I actually posted my question in my post from last month but then realized it prob won't be seen since it is archived.  To the OP ... I hope you don't feel this was a hijack of your post.  :)  I just don't know how to reach anyone otherwise.  Thanks
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Avatar universal
I also wanted to ask you if you have been nauseated at all or have difficulty keeping your balance.  I tend to get a touch of vertigo when mine swells like that.  

My children used to get some swelling behind their ears occasionally when they slept with a fan blowing on them.  Usually it was an acumulation (sp?) of sinus caught there.

I guess really the only way to know for sure is to get a little bloodwork done via your doctor.  I hope you feel better soon.  :)
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Avatar universal
You might have violated the below.  But for some reason I thought it would not apply to this forum due to being a patient to patient forum and not a doctor forum. I guess I was wrong, however, incase I am, keep tying.  I see you have a post up further.

Terms and Conditions: http://www.medhelp.org/termsofuse.htm

RULES FOR POSTING QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS IN FORUMS AND PUBLIC AREAS;
8. Posting more than 2 new questions within a 6-month period, in forums (Public Areas)that are limited to the number of new questions accepted daily.
16.Posting the same note more than once or "spamming".  

GL
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Avatar universal
Have you already been diagnosed with thyroid disorder.

Only your doctor can tell if its an infection or thyroid.




Just my personal opinion and/or experience. Always discuss your health issue with your doctor , always adhere to your doctors advise and, you always have the right to a second opinion. Nothing is a 100% or a 100%, 100% of the time. However, we are not all alike!

GL,
1990 - Hyper/Graves'
1997 - Dia/RAI
1999 - TED - slight Thyroid Eye Disease
1999 - Visible Nodule (suspect hyperfunctioning)
1997 - MVP - Mitral Valve Prolapse
2000 - SAD  - Short Attention Disorder/Span
2002 - IED  - Intermittent Explosive Disorder (Graves' Range)
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