Ear Pain driving me crazy

[Nutation]

Hi guys, this is my first post but I've been struggling with weird health issues for a few months.

I've had a very, very mild cold for a few weeks (off and on congestion, sore throat). Two days ago when I woke up my right inner ear hurt. I was seeing a doctor for a different reason but she looked in my ear and said there was maybe some congestion in it, and that it shouldn't hurt - just feel muffled and pressure. Well I can hear fine and there's maybe a little pressure, but mostly pain. Throughout the day yesterday I experience inner ear pain in both ears - just bad enough to be really annoying. I also had some mild facial pressure. Today my cold seems to be mostly clear but my right ear still hurts and is really bothering me. Why am I have still having this pain? It's pretty sharp and does come and go a bit, but is mostly there. I would really appreciate any response.

[AntsyVee]

Do you have your tonsils? Are they swollen? If they are, it’s most likely causing this ear pain. Then I suggest Sudafed, gargle with salt water and sore throat lozenges.

If it’s your ear, there are some prescription analgesic ear drops you can get to numb they pain. They work wonders.

[Panicless]

I have had sore ears and when the doctor checked and found a build up of wax. I used ear drops to get rid of the wax and my ears are fine now

[Nutation]

Thank you both so much for your responses! I do have tonsils but they don't look swollen to me, and I do not have wax in my ears. As an update, both my ears have been hurting pretty bad with ringing in them, so I went to an urgent care. The doctor there looked in my ears and said he didn't see anything that looked like an obvious infection, but still said that it was maybe an infection and gave me antibiotics anyway. I know this is silly but I'm so worried that it's not an infection - why wouldn't the doctor be able to see if it was? My ears definitely hurt bad. :weep:

[AntsyVee]

Take the antibiotics. If the pain goes away in a few days, you’ll have confirmed it was an infection. Sometimes the infection doesn’t have to be in your ears; it can also be in your sinuses.

[Nutation]

Thanks,

24 hours since starting antibiotics and both ears are in SO much pain and there's lots of pressure and a little bit of ringing too. Trying to stay positive but it feels like it might never get better. Hard to function with both the pain and all the worrying

[AntsyVee]

Why didn't you ask for the ear drops if it was that bad?

[Nutation]

The doc was in the room for all of 2 minutes and I forgot to ask :(

[AntsyVee]

I'd make a call to your GP's office and see if they can fax in an order for them to your pharmacy.

[Nutation]

Thanks,

I'll do that if this pain continues. 2 days into antibiotics and 5 days total and I feel the same/maybe even a little worse :(. If is it an ear infection is it normal for infections to last this long? Is there anything else it could be?

[Nutation]

Any similar experience with ear pain/infections would really be appreciated. My thoughts are driving me crazy about what this is and why antibiotics haven't helped.

[AntsyVee]

It takes a few days for antibiotics to work. Once again, if you are in that much pain, call the doc.

[Nutation]

3 days on antibiotics and no improvement. Going to my primary care doc today. Ugh.

[AntsyVee]

What did the doc say?

[EKB]

Is it possible that you're clenching your jaw? Strain around your TMJ can cause surprisingly sharp ear pain (and it can feel like it's right in the ear). Couple that with any sinus congestion or earwax build up and it can feel pretty miserable. When mine flares up either because of stress or congestion I find a warm compress on the jaw joint right in front of the ear can be very soothing. Usually I'll take a couple of Advil too. Hope your trip to the doc yielded some positive results.

[Nutation]

I considered TMJ pain but my jaw feels fine, so I don't think that's it - thank you for the advice and suggestion though!

The doctor said that she didn't see any signs of infection so it's probably a problem with my Eustachian tube becoming inflamed and that the pain is coming from pressure or congestion in my middle ear. It seems to mostly fit, although I feel like my pain is more than to be expected with that, and I can hear fine (hearing loss is a very common symptom with Eustachian tube dysfunction). She thinks that the problem will probably resolve on its own in 1-3 weeks. It's a long time to wait with something so painful - ear drops won't help since it's in the middle ear, and Tylenol doesn't even take the edge off - but I don't see anything else I can do at this point. Doing nasal sprays and hoping for the best.

If anyone has experience with Eustachian tube problems that are very painful with only mild other symptoms (mostly a little bit of tinnitus) I would love to hear about it, since I can't find any examples on the internet.