Ear fullness

[ElleNicole]

Hey everyone. I'm a 21 year old female. I have been suffering from neck and shoulder pain since May 14th. It has gotten better but I cannot convince myself that its just a strained muscle. I have fully convinced myself it's neck cancer. I have had multiple people feel my neck and they feel no lumps however I'm convinced there is one there. Yesterday my right ear started hurting where your ear connects to your head in the front where that little crease is at top of ear and it feels blocked. All of my symptoms are on the right side of my body. My anxiety is probably causing my symptoms to persist and makes me remain tight and tense throughout my neck and shoulder. I have a doctors appt on the 28th but it's killing me to wait that long. I thought maybe it was TMJ because my jaw hurts where it meets my ear but I'm not sure. Any insight? Thank you! I have suffered with health anxiety since I was 14. Had a miscarriage in March and after that is when my anxiety came back full force. I hate feeling like this. It's the worst feeling being anxious all the time.

[Iamnormal]

I too have been experiencing neck and shoulder pain since about april. Then I started getting "brain zaps" I ended up in A+E because I couldn't breathe and I thought I had a brain tumour or an aneurysm. Long story short I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression which was causing tension headaches and muscle tension and was promptly put on SSRIs. I've been a long term clencher and have an awful jaw because of it! Which leads to a lot of head and face pain, I don't notice I'm clenching until I'm in agony!
Most of my symptoms are on my left side. I've convinced myself I've had every cancer going, name one, I've probably had it!! I've also experienced the ear fullness feeling, I think it may be because of the tension, my neck was worse on the side with ear problems so I'm putting it down to that for now.

The one thing that has been my saviour through all this is... A massage pillow. I bought a heated massage neck pillow off amazon, one with glowing red rotating balls. I bought it for a laugh really, but oh my god it has helped! I felt a bit silly at first but now I use it whenever I feel a bit "funny" in my head and neck and it works wonders.

The SSRIs appear to be doing their thing. I've tried to change my way of thinking and not jump to the worst possible scenario. I've also quit googling my symptoms and I'm so much better than I was.

Not sure if I've been any help, but it's interesting to see that someone is experiencing the same things so I thought I'd share.

[ElleNicole]

Thank you for sharing! You made me feel better about things:) Anxiety is terrible and I wish I had a better way to cope with it. I have a slighty inflamed spot on my neck probably from rubbing it so much and now I'm afraid I have a tumor there. My mom is a nurse and tells me she is 99% sure it's not but I don't understand why all my pain and symptoms are on the right side of my body. Guess we will see on the 28th when my doctor appt is. I would go on SSRI or some kind of medication but after my wedding in September we plan to try for another baby so I don't want to pump my body full of medication or believe me I would try it not to feel like crap all the time. Thank you again! I hope you get better. I know it's possible!

[Iamnormal]

I'm glad it helped some.
We wanted to try for a baby in the next year or two, but I know I wouldn't be able to cope with pregnancy with the way I am currently. I didn't even think about getting pregnant when I started meds, I was in a bit of a crisis! Now I'll admit its a bit of a concern. But meds may just be a short term thing and I'd rather be confident that I'm healthy in my mind and body before trying for a baby.
I had the same inflamed "lump" the more I rubbed it the worse it got. SO LEAVE IT ALONE!! :)
We'll both get better, I'm sure of it! Good luck for the wedding!! :)

[generalblue.162]

Yes, I have ear fullness quite often. It is due to bruxisms in my case. About 4 months ago I was explaining my symptoms to my dentist and I mentioned my ear, head, and jaw aches. After examination she said I grinded my teeth and recommended a night guard. I still get the aches but not as extreme as I used to have. When pressure comes to the ear now, it's only pressure with no pain and my head aches only last 5 minutes.

[ElleNicole]

Does your ear ever hurt at the top front where it connects to your head. That's where mine hurts. Like where a pair of glasses would sit.

[generalblue.162]

E. it was the middle of my ear. Keep in mind the ear is a very sensitive body part. You could have an infection in your sinuses or a rash somewhere far away from you ear and your ear will still hurt. If you have allergies, it is very common to have ear aches as well. Your doc will put your mind at ease.

[KnightDay]

I had ear fullness as well just on the right side. Thought that it must be something wrong as it was persistent for a couple of weeks. I can happily say that it is much better now, and that it was most likely attributed to allergies.

Really what I find is that a lot of the time it's all coincidence that these things happen at the same time or it is attributed to anxiety which tends to make things worse than they are.