Ear pain

In the work of a general practitioner, complaints of ear pain are quite common. If the ear pain is severe, patients usually seek medical help even at night. Complaints of ear pain are observed in all age groups, they are especially common in children.

When a patient complains of ear pain, the examination should not be limited to the ears as the source of these complaints [this may include otitis externa; furunculosis; otitis media, or inflammation of the middle ear, and mastoiditis]. The source of pain radiating to the ear(s) should also be sought.

[ 1 ], [ 2 ]

What are the causes of ear pain?

There are several main causes that can cause ear pain.

Infectious disease

The most common cause of ear pain - dull, deep, with sharp shooting pain - is otitis caused by a viral or bacterial infection. It is quite easy to determine if you have otitis externa: you need to press on the tragus, and pain will appear in the ear. Otitis media is usually accompanied by symptoms such as high temperature and headache. Such not so pleasant sensations occur due to the penetration of infection into the external auditory canal. Depending on the location of the spread of the infection, boils (a point localization of infection) or abscesses (the infection spreads to the entire ear canal) are distinguished. Many patients also complain of pain caused by an infectious lesion of the middle ear or external auditory canal. The first symptoms: purulent discharge from the ear canal, headache, deterioration of hearing. Cause: otomycosis (ear fungus).

In any case of infectious or bacterial inflammation of the ear canal, self-medication is useless and even dangerous. Seek help from doctors who will clean the canal with an ear probe. Usually, ear drops are prescribed for abscesses, boils, otitis and other consequences of infections. Such medications contain antibiotics, so after completing a course of treatment, you can get rid of ear pain without problems and consequences.

Eustachian tube obstruction

When the Eustachian tube is blocked, there is a feeling as if the ear is blocked. If the disease is not treated immediately, the disease can lead to inflammation of the middle ear. In such cases, patients are prescribed vasoconstrictor drops or nasal spray. Thus, by narrowing the vessels, the patency of the Eustachian tube is significantly improved. In some cases, antibiotics are added to the list of medications if the main cause of ear pain is still an infection.

[ 3 ], [ 4 ]

Barotrauma

Barotrauma can occur if the pressure in the middle and inner ear is different. In other words, barotrauma can be caused by a contusion, a loud noise that exceeds the norm of sound sensitivity in volume, even a runny nose can cause a “stunning” effect. Ear pain due to barotrauma can occur under any circumstances in which the pressure inside the ear changes abruptly: scuba diving, climbing mountains, stopping abruptly after running, a gunshot. To relieve suffering, you just need to close your nose and try to exhale air into it. Prolonged pain is a signal that you need to run to an otolaryngologist.

[ 5 ], [ 6 ], [ 7 ], [ 8 ], [ 9 ]

Earwax plug

Clogging of the external auditory canal with earwax or earwax plug is most common in children who do not like to clean their ears. However, some adults who neglect personal hygiene may end up with symptoms of earwax plug such as hearing loss over a long period of time and, as a logical result, ear pain.

The doctor will remove the plug in no time with a special syringe that delivers warm water under pressure. You can clean the external auditory canal yourself. To do this, you first need to make the plug “pliable” by softening it with special drops. After, say, three days after the above procedures, you need to take a warm bath, while you need to lie down so that your ears are under water. If the plug does not come out, go to the doctor without hesitation. And most importantly - no further experiments with attempts to pull out the plug yourself.

Inflammation of the upper respiratory tract

A cold can also cause ear pain. You caught a cold, sat in a draft, got too cold - and ear canal inflammation is right there. Usually, your nose gets blocked right away. Such pain can pass as quickly and without a trace as the cold began, or it can “stay as a guest” a little longer, leaving behind an acute infection of the middle ear. Eyewitnesses say that ear pain against the background of an infection is simply crazy. However, do not despair. An experienced doctor will always suggest the correct course of treatment.

Injuries

Traumatization of the auditory canal is mainly typical for children who like to put various objects into their own and other children's ears: pencils, beads, beads, construction set parts and other objects. And in general, any ear injury can happen completely by accident, and not only in children. In general, ear pain can be caused even by a blow to the head, much less a blow to the ear itself.

Symptoms of ear pain

Any pain in the auricle indicates, first of all, some inflammatory process. This may be otitis, acute and chronic tonsillitis, sinusitis, specific or non-specific inflammation of the maxillary joint. In addition, ear pain may be a consequence of inflammatory processes of the jaw, tonsils, and also due to sinusitis. The most common causes of such pain are pathological processes in the neck, spine, myofascial pain, neuralgia, etc. To determine the causes of pain and establish the correct diagnosis, you must contact a qualified specialist and undergo an examination.

If you have several of the listed symptoms, it is possible to state the fact of a disease of individual “parts” of the auditory system:

• sharp or dull pain in the ear,
• recurrence of ear pain,
• persistent pain for several days,
• “reflected” pain in the sinuses, in the neck, in the temple area,
• hearing loss,
• purulent or bloody discharge from the auricle,
• redness of the ear,
• elevated temperature,
• runny nose.

Pain radiating to the ear

Pain sensations can be transmitted to the ear via 5 nerves. Pain sensations from the sphenoid sinus or toothache are transmitted via the auricular branch of the trigeminal nerve. Pain can be radiated to the ear via the large auricular nerve (via nerves C2, C3) from wounds or inflamed lymph nodes in the neck, as well as from the discs and joints of the cervical vertebrae, with inflammatory changes in the latter. Pain radiates via the sensitive branch of the facial nerve to the geniculate ganglion of this nerve when it is affected by the Herpes zoster virus (Ramsay Hunt syndrome).

Pain in the ear can radiate along the tympanic branch of the glossopharyngeal nerve and the auricular branch of the vagus nerve with inflammatory changes in the pharynx, for example, with tonsillitis, carcinoma of the posterior third of the tongue, from the pyriform fossa or larynx, with peritonsillar abscess.

It is very difficult to diagnose ear pain in infants when the only symptoms of the disease are crying and vomiting.

Ear pain is one of the most unpleasant pains, perhaps after toothache. It causes a lot of trouble, and any inflammation of the auricle and other organs of the human auditory system can result in serious hearing problems, including hearing loss.

Ear pain can have a completely different character, depending on the specific disease and its severity. The source of pain usually “hangs” in the area of the auricle and external auditory canal. Timely diagnosis and treatment of ear problems will not only preserve hearing, but also avoid more serious health problems.

Ear pain treatment

Although it is unbearable to endure ear pain, you should not try to self-medicate, otherwise you can harm yourself even more. However, you can ease the discomfort a little.

If the pain is localized in the area of the auricle and external auditory canal, in no case should water be allowed to enter and additional injuries should be allowed. In such cases, you can lightly treat the inner part of the ear with ointment containing celestoderm, lorinden, and triderm. Painkillers, such as ketanov, will relieve ear pain.

If ear pain is spontaneous and accompanied by acute pain without discharge, high temperature, you need to warm up your ear urgently. This can be done using a turunda with boric alcohol, an alcohol compress or a special ear warmer. At the same time, you should take a couple of tablets of a painkiller.

If there is discharge when there is pain in the ear, you should never put drops in your ears, insert a turunda there, or allow water to get in there. Until a diagnosis is established, any actions related to the treatment of ear pain should be carried out under strict medical supervision, otherwise the consequences can be completely unpredictable, up to and including perforation of the eardrum.

If the thermometer shows a body temperature above 38 degrees, and the ear pain is not accompanied by discharge, you should not warm the ear under any circumstances. It is better to call a doctor, since such symptoms may indicate a closed purulent inflammation without pus drainage. Often, such a diagnosis occurs in children. In case of purulent edema and other complications, you cannot do without the help of doctors.

Otitis media also needs to be treated under the close supervision of the attending physician, since, as a rule, otitis can be accompanied by facial nerve paresis.

What should you do first if you have ear pain?

As we have already said, ear pain can indicate completely different diseases, similar to each other only in their serious consequences. And they will definitely happen if you self-medicate or treat the disease incorrectly. Therefore, at the first symptoms of pathology in the ear area, you should immediately call a doctor and not put off treatment for a long time.

The only thing that can and even should be done for ear pain is to take a painkiller (ketanov, paracetamol), aspirin, antipyretic (if there is a high temperature). If necessary, you can warm up the ear, but only depending on the causes of pain that allow such a method. For example, with external otitis, alcohol warming compresses and any warming methods using alcohol should not be done under any circumstances, because alcohol has an irritating effect. Drops may not always help. Thus, with middle otitis, antibiotics in the form of drops will have no effect, and with perforation of the eardrum, this is completely dangerous, since drugs containing salicylates can destroy the structure of the inner ear. In case of mechanical damage to the eardrum, it is permissible to insert a turunda (with a saline solution), which must be changed every two to three hours.