One Sided Throat/Neck/Jaw/Ear Pain - Becoming Chronic

[jjittery]

Greetings to all:  I am having a pain situation that is unresolved despite a decent workup.  I have one sided pain which seems to be coming from the area behind and above (not in) the tonsil.  This is dull, chronic pain of 2-3 months.  This pain is exacerbated when opening the jaw widely or "flexing" the tonsil.  This pain radiates to the jaw and neck and behind the ear (mastoid bone).  All of these spots are fairly tender to the touch.  I have seen an ENT had two scopes through the nose that showed nothing abnormal.  Additionally, I have had a neck MRI and CT w/ contrast that showed nothing other than some shotty lymph nodes.  These were all under 1 cm and appear to the radiologist(s) as pathologically insignificant and probably reactive adenopathy.  There was no assymetry and no masses on either test. At this point, I am unsure what else to do.  It is worth noting that I do have a history of muscle/neck pain that comes and goes.  However this particular pain is not subsiding at all.  I would appreciate any comments on this.  What could this be?

[jjittery]

If this continues much after my 2nd ENT opinion, I will definitely check with a Neurologist.  Thank you for your comments about the reassurance of the MRI and CT.  Yes, they were very reassuring. What is left in the possible differential at this point that needs to be considered?  Anything sinister?  IF I can rule out anything serious, I would consider maybe getting a pain shot.  I have read that pain syndromes like Eagles and the like can be effectively treated. However that of course is just treating the symptom, I'd rather be comfortable discovering the source of the pain.

thanks so much

[ENTMD]

Normal MRIs and CTs are very reassuring and can help rule out several things.  Eagles syndrome should be effectively ruled out with a normal CT (I had assumed they considered that and rejected it).  With normal scans, the list of possibilities shrinks quite a bit.  This is where the neurological diagnoses come into play.  You might want to see what a Neurologist thinks.

[jjittery]

There have been no mention of these things, only eagles syndrome.  But there was no radiographical evidence of eagles.

wondering what else I can do.

How important is the normal MRI and CT in this case?

[ENTMD]

At this point I start thinking about things such as glossopharyngeal neuralgia, among other types of nerve pain.  Have they given any thought to that?