Pain behind the earlobe...anyone else get this?

[lovemy6monkeys]

I've had this going on for a couple days now. It is my right side (most everything seems to be hitting me on the right side *sigh*). It is just behind my earlobe, that small space that you can feel between where the skull bone ends and before the jaw bone (joint?) starts.

It starts as a sharp dull pain which lasts for about 10 seconds, then it fades. I would guess it lasts 30-45 seconds total, but it keeps happening over and over, at least every 10-15 minutes, and the initial sharp pain is worse today then it was yesterday (but still bearable).

Last week I had a hard time with my right neck muscle being tight (spastic? I'll be talking to my neuro about it next time I see him), though that has eased up the last few days.

Does anyone get this? I'm trying to prepare myself for what course this could take...if it will stay the same or continue to get worse.

Thanks for all the help!
~Jess

[heididanyel]

Bob,

I have been having this same exact thing over the last month and it is getting worse, starting to scare me a bit. What did you do to take care of the problem? Mine started a month ago when a chiropractor adjusted my neck, been in pain ever since and it is just like you are describing! I need to know what to do.

Thank You!

[twopack]

Or this may be as bad as it ever gets or it could fade away completely.  We just never know.  Heck, a bunch of the time we don't even know if it's from MS or not.

Over the years I have had recurrent bouts of pain around the ear.  It wakes me up sometimes.  It's a pain that makes me want to freeze in place because any movement at all sends a fresh shot of pain through me.  It's in the area you mention but also involves the tragus (that firm area of cartiledge that projects in front of the ear).  

For several years this happened at frequent intervals, coming on several times a day for a number of days and then disappearing for weeks or months at a time.  Then I went several years without experiencing it at all.  Lately I've had it happen a couple times again.  In addition, I now have intermittent pain at the gum line behind my molars on that side.  I have no idea if the two are related.

I've never told a doctor about this because I found a solution that worked for me that didn't require a prescription and it had less impact on my life than most of the weird things that happen with my body.  It might be TN.  It might not.  It seems to be one of those things that will take the course it intends no matter what I do or how much/little I prepare.  Sometimes s*h*i*t happens and I just have to let it.  I refer to things like this as it-camee-to-pass symptoms.

I did figure out somewhere along the line that a warm compress (preferably moist heat) held to my ear gave me a great deal of rapid relief.  You could try that Jess.  Otherwise, I suggest time will tell if this needs to occupy your thoughts much more.

Mary

[COBOB]

The short answer is Yes.  From what you have described (if it is TN,) I think it could get worse. One thing I have learned in the last 9 months is that these neurologic pains can always seem to get worse.  

I got hit with TN back in about July.  By mid-August it was pretty much under contol with Tegretol.  If I forget to take a dose, my TN minion (Quix term) mule kicks me in the side of my face and I take my pill and suffer for 45 min or so.  I have found that as long as I stay in front of the pain, I don't have to pay an excessive penalty.

My TN has two phases.  There is the "ache and nag" phase that is more irritating than painful.  That is followed by the "Electric (hit my funny bone) stabbing pain across my upper and lower jaw" that causes my face to scrunch up and make me want to drive off the road.  It hurts from a line from the top of my ear across to my nose and down to my lower jaw.  I literally can not continue to drive and have to pull over.  It is very short duration, buts comes back frequently if I don't take my Tegretol.

[drsdonthelp]

LOL, Jess, and God Bless you on having 6 kids with no pain meds. OMG, I had 2 and needed the pain meds!!!
I know what you mean about the TN scaring you. I have had a shooting sharp pain on the left side of my face a couple of times, but this ear pain seems to be sticking around alittle longer. Thank God it is not constant, (meaning all day long pain) comes and goes for the past 2 almost 3 weeks now.
Pam

[lovemy6monkeys]

Bob...I was afraid you would say that! In looking online it seemed like the nerve to worry about was above the ear to the cheek.

Do you think this has the potential to get worse?

Thanks for your help!
~Jess

[lovemy6monkeys]

LOL Pam...my comic book geek husband would say we must be each others Doppleganger!

I was thinking ear infection too, but it doesn't hurt all the time, like you said no fever or other symptoms, and it doesn't matter if I'm sitting up or laying down. I haven't had a cold or anything like that, so I don't think it is lymph nodes or sinuses.

I am a righty :-) My oldest daughter is a lefty, the first one in my family since my great-grandmother!

TN kind of scares me :-( I deal pretty well with pain (I had all 6 kids with no pain meds, even my 9 & 10 pounders) but TN sounds like it can get kind of bad :-(

I guess my "unusual MS symptoms" aren't so unusual if you have them too!
~Jess

[COBOB]

That indented space behind the earlobe in front of the mastoid process of the scull is the Eustachian tube that link the pharynx to the middle ear. The main nerves involved with the Eustachian tube are the Vagus Nerve (CN10) and the Trigeminal Nerve (CN5).

Bob

[drsdonthelp]

I'm sorry, but I have to laugh alittle, because you and I seem to be having the same issues right now.
I have been having some ear pain behind my right ear in the same spot, it is that indented space and mine hurts more when I swallow. I thought it was an ear infection because it hurts deep within the ear, but I do not have a fever, no other type of infection and the pain comes and goes.

Everytime I think its gone, it comes back. I actually asked on another post what this could be and Bob had responded that it could be possible TN.
I am a lefty by the way (my symptoms are more on the left) are you a righty?? LOL
Just a little humor, a funny coincidence.

Hugs to you,
Pam