Pain in left eat, left side of the face, back side of the head and throat.

[roger121]

Hi there,

This is a question regarding my dad who reported yesterday morning that he was having symptoms of a dull pain at the back of his head (area behind the ear on the left side), along with pain in his left ear, left side of the throat (while swallowing) and left area of his face. [He also reported pain in his left shoulder and down his left arm but it might be related to a different incident as he has been reporting stiff neck recently]

We did take him to a walk-in clinic today and the doctor said that he can see some sort of swelling inside his left ear and he gave us ear spray to use (otomize). However, I wanted to ask the forum whether it is possible for such a swelling of the ear to cause symptoms such as pains in the left area at the back of the head and in the left facial area ? I understand it causes problems in the throat as I have always heard ENT to be connected, but I do not have enough knowledge to know whether it can cause slight tender pain to the back of the head and the front facial area (note that ALL of this pain has been reported on the left side of the facial/cranial area.. is that a sign that it could possibly not be anything serious... hopefully?)

Thank you so much in advance, our family is going through a tough spot right now as my grandfather is suffering from cancer, so any little thing in any one of us is alarming us all and adding cumulatively to the stress we are already going through.

Any help or advice would be really really appreciated,
Roger.

[roger121]

Thanks for your reply tschock,
there is no swelling as such around his facial area to suggest any mumps or so, but to answer your question no he has not had mumps before.

The doctor said he did not see any fluid or so inside his ear. However, the doctor said that it might have been due to his tendency of using the earbuds inside the ear to clean. However, even after being prescribed the otomize ear spray and after using it a few times the symptoms have not relieved in any way. It has not gone worse, but not gone better either.

He also has no such dental symptoms to be indicating an abcess or anything as such.
I have noted a few posts of people reporting symptoms as my father on the forum, however none have been particularily indicative of a disorder to the forum members. Do you suggest we take him to an ENT specialist?

Thanks for your help,
Roger

[tschock]

To answer your question...yes...it is possible.
Has your dad ever had mumps?
Swollen glands can also cause those symptoms.
The doctor probably would have checked that though.

Best way to tell if it's mumps is to eat a dill pickle.

An infected tooth ( abscess) can cause those symptoms as well. If he develops blisters in his mouth around the gums, he should see a dentist...that's a sign of an abscess tooth.

Did the doctor say if he had fluid in his ear? Or did he just say that he saw swelling?

I'm sorry that your family is going through so much, and of course it's only natural that every little thing that happens right now is going to worry you.

[roger121]

wow, also I just realized I spelt 'ear' wrong in the ENT section of a forum.

Apologies for my haste.