I will preface by saying I have been dealing with ear/sinus issues for almost a year. My ears, especially my right one get very full and sore.

In the first week of April I noticed when wearing over-ear headphones that there was a spot in front of my right earlobe that was sore. I thought it was from the headphones.

The next day it was more tender and continued to become more and more uncomfortable to the point where just turning my head made the area really uncomfortable. I felt a lump in the area, too.

I went to my doctor and she felt the area and said she didn't feel any lump but that where I was feeling the pain was my TMJ area. I didn't think that was right because the pain was right in front of my earlobe.

Still, I left it alone. The pain subsided after a few days but left behind was a small, pea sized lump that to me feels like a pearl. I don't find it mobile or soft.

I made an appointment with my dentist for a filling this last week (about a month past the initial pain) and he felt it and said it's not the right area for TMJ and, to him, felt like a lymph node. When he felt it he said "you mean this rubbery pea?" I haven't found it to be rubbery feeling, it feels very hard to me but I've also never felt lymph nodes before to know the difference. He told me to follow up with my doctor (and recommended I have my wisdom teeth removed :( )

So I call my doctor and they schedule me in for that night. A few hours later I get a call and the secretary says my doctor wants to do a phone consultation first. It has been incredibly difficult to actually see my doctor in person and this frustrated me because his is she meant to feel it over the phone?

Anyway, she calls me and I explain the location and what I feel. She says it's fine. That the lymph nodes there are typically linked to skin issues (acne, eczema), scalp issues (dandruff, eczema), and ear issues. And that was all she said. The phone call was maybe 5 minutes.

That was a few days ago. The lump is still there. Sometimes it feels tender, I think, but I don't know if that is just from me prodding it. If I push it really hard it feels like it squishes, but mostly it feels very hard and immobile to me.

Of course my anxiety is telling me it's something terrible. And that my doctor is missing something because she isn't seeing me in person.

I got my Covid vaccine almost two weeks ago and for a few days after had some more swollen nodes but I no longer feel those. The one right in front of my earlobe is still there and still scaring me so much, though.

Has anyone had similar? Or can just give me a virtual pat on the back to let me know it's ok?