Pressure on left side of head above ear

[tlcha]

I just went to the doctor today because for a month I have had pressure feeling above left ear on left side of head. She said she thought it was a sensitive scalp either from combing or hitting head and not knowing it. She put me on ibuprofen 600 mg 3 times a day for 7-10 days. I also hurt my left neck shoulder and left side of upper back just over the shoulder back in march when I was getting massages is when I noticed it. Has anyone else has left sided head pressure. It's very noticeable and very annoying. It makes my anxiety more intense. I hope the docotr is right and it goes away. She said if it doesn't they would do an MRI.

[tlcha]

I appreciate your thoughts. My doctor never looked in my left ear. It might come from clenching my teeth at night. It is on left side where muscles come together for biting down. I don't know. Weirdest thing. It's been a rough two years for me anyway. I am 43 and falling apart. I am taking ibuprofen for now.  They say I am perimenapause. They tell me thats why I have anxiety and depression and all sorts of stuff. Who knows.
How are you feeling?

[ggreg]

Well, I'm no expert, but sounds sort of like an earache.  But then when you say you first noticed it when a massage therapist worked on your shoulder on that side, could be you've got some muscles all bunched up in there.  If you are an older person, that is, say, 50+, if you tear up a muscle group, it can take a long time to get better.

Before your doc hauls off and does an expensive MRI, might I suggest two things:  

One, go to an ear-nose-throat or ENT doc, and have him make sure you don't have an infection in your ear.  Even tho your regular doc might have looked in there, it's better to have a specialist do it.

Two, I went to a massage person who didn't "finish" up my therapy one day, and I had to go back the next week, to finish getting all the kinks out of my muscles.  With that in mind, you can either go back to the same therapist or another one and tell them how it hurts and could they work on that area gently, OR you can go the home treatment route and every day put a hot water bottle wrapped in a tea towel in that neck and shoulder area while you are relaxed and watching TV, and/or you can try some very gentle stretching exercises for that area.  

You could even have a friend massage that area gently for you every other day with a nice warmed oil, and make sure they go all around the entire spot, because sometimes nearby muscles can be involved.  You can also try laying flat on the floor with your legs up in a chair and just let your arms drop out to the side, and it will often take out kinks out of the neck and back, even tho it may not seem to be coming from the spine, becuz could be it's compensating becuz the nearby muscles have been bunched up for so long.

If all that fails, THEN I guess an MRI might be in order.