Help! What should I do for a painful earache?

[Woodland Woman]

I have had earaches on and off for about 10 years. Yesterday it got so painful I went to the doctor. My ear and surrounding areas are extremely sensitive to touch. Looking in my ear they found my ear drum was fine but the ear canal was slightly red. They gave me 2 kinds of ear drops. One was an antibiotic and the other for pain. Now it is rare I will actually take any medication from the doctor. I go to get their opinion and diagnosis and then I figure out what I can do naturally. A nurse practicioner saw me and I don't always trust her opinion. This morning I woke up with an allergic reaction to the ear drops. My ear was very swollen and it was even more painful to the touch. Also the back of my scalp was extremely itchy where the oily drops had leaked from my ears. I stopped the ear drops but am still having pain. I really wish I could figure this problem out as I am so tired of dealing with this pain.

 

[cjparker]

Is it possible that it is tooth pain that is traveling to your ear? Pain can get "referred" to areas away from the source of the problem, and tooth pain frequently shows up as earache.

If it's truly ear pain, you might try rinsing your ears with peroxide mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with plain warm water.

 

[Woodland Woman]

I did have a tooth removed a couple years ago that I thought could be the problem. Unfortunately it didn't work and the rest of my teeth are fine.

 

[buckeye lady]

Do you grind your teeth at night?

 

[Woodland Woman]

No, I don't think this has anything to do with my teeth. I think it is a structural problem or maybe fungal?

 

[buckeye lady]

I'm not thinking teeth. I'm thinking Temporalmandibular joint. (TMJ)-This is right next to your ear canal and can be the cause of chronic ear pain.

 

[Woodland Woman]

Thanks Buckeye Lady
My husband has TMJ so I am familiar with it. I am sure I don't have it. Once a doctor told me he thought it could be a small bone in my ear sticking somehow causing the pain. Noises can cause it or make it worse.

 

[Wildsky]

Perhaps some Garlic Mullein oil?

 

[Jamsoundsgood]

If it is an infection you could try a little warm olive oil and some warm compresses. It seems to work with my kids for pain management whenever they have an earache. They only seem to get them on weekends and by the time we get to the doctor on Monday (my dh is a firm believer in western medicine for everything) whatever it was seems to be gone. Luckily my kid's dr seems to be the wait and see kind. I love her usually. She actually uses the olive oil trick on her own kids.

 

[BirdBrain]

DH was complaining about a bad ear ache this morning too. I put rice in a sock, knotted it and threw it in the microwave for a minute to get it hot. Then I put extra virgin olive oil in his ear followed by a cotton ball and the compress on top. It worked like a charm...Don't reallly know why other than that heat improves circulation to the area and the oil was soothing.