Ear Pain

[Lisahurts]

I am 40 years old and have been living with knifing sharp ear pain in my ear for many, many years.  I have managed (somehow) to block it out, although sometimes it is not easy.  I apply pressure to my left ear when the shooting pain starts and hold it there for a few seconds until the pain subsides.  I always had ear infections growing up.  A few years back, I went to the worst ENT I think on the planet.  Her bedside manner was horrific, and she said other than my grayish looking ear on the inside from scar tissue, she did not see anything too wrong.  She then quizzed me on how loud I listened to music (which I don't nor never have loudly), occupation, etc. to rule out damage to my ears from noise.  After I told her that this was not an issue, she somehow concluded that just short of eating nachos on the Superman ride of steel hanging upside down at the amusement park, while sporting crocs with tube socks and thinking of blue skies, was the problem.  My point being, she was awful with her recommendations.  There has to be some explanation as to why I suffer in pain with my ear.  What can these sharp pains be attributed too?  I wish I could have some kind of head scan to see what is in my ear drum, and/or head that is causing these pains.  Would that be silly of me to think?   Can someone please guide me?  Thanks!

[Lisahurts]

Thanks so much for the post back.
I will explore the scan further and set up an appointment with a highly recommended ENT in my Upstate NY area.  I am a jaw clencher, and I have often thought myself the problem could be TMJ.
If this is indeed the case, I will be a woman who suffers from PMS, and TMJ who likes PBJ's. BTW, all this sharing is probably TMI !  LOL!

Hope I brought a smile to you..Thanks again for your help!
Lisa

[ENTMD]

Hi Lisa -- loved the post.  You obviously are able to maintain a sense of humor about this and that is an asset for you!

I am sorry you managed to get an appt. with the world's worst ENT doc...what are the odds? :)  They are out there in all specialties, what can I say...

In my opinion, pain like you are describing is not often from scarred ear drums.  Could there be something else going on behind the drum? I suppose, but without a scan or other tests, it can't be known (you may be right in thinking that getting one would be helpful).  More commonly, this type of pain is from the temporomandibular joint (or TMJ).  This can be from arthritis, essentiall, in the joint, strain on the joint from stress/teeth grinding/clenching/unequal loads on the jaw from the teeth.  There are other sources for chronic ear pain, but they are much less common and really shouldn't be seriously considered until the ear itself and the jaw is more thoroughly investigated.

I guess my best advice would be to find another ENT doc, hoping that you won't find the world's second worst one...

Good luck.