Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsInner Ear PainReferred Ear PainRare CausesDiagnosisTreatment
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Inner Ear Pain
Referred Ear Pain
Rare Causes
Diagnosis
Treatment
There are numerous causes ofear pain. Most are treatable, and some are serious. If you begin to develop ear pain, it’s important to see a healthcare provider, who can talk to you about your symptoms and risk factors and examine your ears to identify the cause of your ear pain.
Verywell / Gary Ferster
Causes of Ear Pain
Ear pain can affect the pinna, the ear canal, or the middle ear.
Otitis Media
Otitis media is the medical term for a middle ear infection. Otitis media is more common in children because of the size and angle of their auditory tubes, but it can also occur in adults.
The condition can cause significant ear pain, which may get worse when lying down. Othersymptoms of otitis mediamay include fever, nausea and vomiting, loss of balance, or in severe cases,drainage from the ear. Small children who are unable to talk may become irritable and may touch or pull at their ears.
Overview of Middle Ear Infections
Foreign Objects
When an object becomes stuck in the ear, pain can occur. This most often occurs when children place an object inside their ears. If an object is pushed too far inside of the ear it can actuallyrupture the eardrum.
How to Relieve Ear Pressure
Auditory Tube Dysfunction
Auditory tube dysfunction is the abnormal opening or closing of the auditory tube.Under normal circumstances, the auditory tube opens and closes in response to changes in atmospheric pressure. This allows the air inside of the middle ear to equalize.
Any condition that causes the auditory tube to become clogged or prevents it from opening and closing can be referred to as auditory tube dysfunction. This can result in pressure and pain in the ear when the atmospheric pressure changes rapidly and the pressure in the middle ear is unable to equalize.
Examples of situations that might cause this are taking off or landing in an airplane, scuba diving, or driving up a steep mountain. In some cases, you may experience ear pain for a moment, which then subsides as the pressure in the middle ear stabilizes.
In severe cases, pressure in the middle ear becomes too great and the eardrum may rupture. This is calledbarotrauma of the ear.
Ruptured Eardrum
Ruptured eardrums can cause severe pain initially. However, the pain may quickly subside after the rupture.
Besides pain that may last only a short period of time, other symptoms of a ruptured eardrum includesudden hearing loss, dizziness, and drainage from the ear which may be bloody.
Preauricular Lymph Nodes: What to Know
Otitis Externa
Swimmer’s ear occurs in both children and adults. In addition to ear pain, it can cause ear redness, itchy ears, dry flaky skin, drainage from the ear, and fevers.
Ear Trauma
Ear trauma refers to any kind of injury to the outer portion of the ear. This type of injury can commonly occur in certain contact sports such as mixed martial arts, but the risk is reduced if headgear is worn. If an injury becomes infected it can lead to perichondritis.
Perichondritis
Perichondritis is an infection of the cartilage which makes up the outer ear and is usually the result of trauma to the ear from surgery, ear piercing, or accidental injury. In addition to ear pain, symptoms include redness and swelling. In severe cases, you may experience fever, purulent drainage, or evendeformation of the ear.
Overview of Perichondritis of the Ear
Known causes of referred ear pain include:SinusitisToothaches,tooth abscesses, or other dental problemsTemporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ)Sore throatsTonsillitis
Known causes of referred ear pain include:
Rare Causes of Ear Pain
Some rare causes of ear pain include:
A physical exam typically will begin with questions about your ear pain. Your healthcare provider will want to know when it started and what other symptoms you’ve experienced, such as whether your ears hurt when you blow your nose or if your ears hurt when you swallow.
They will need to know about anyhome remedies, over-the-counter (OTC)pain relievers, or other treatments you’ve already tried.
Your physical exam will involve a close look at the outer ear, the inner ear canal, and the eardrum with an otoscope, a special lighted tool for looking inside the ear. Your healthcare provider may also feel for pain or swollen lymph nodes in your neck, and examine your jaw, nose, and mouth.
Additional tests won’t always be necessary, but some cases may require a referral to anotolaryngologist(ENT specialist), who might perform a diagnostic nasal endoscopy procedure.
Imaging
Imaging may be needed in order to diagnose ear pain. These images may include:
Imaging tests can often identify issues like a dental problem, an infection, or a tumor.
Blood Tests
Blood tests are not commonly helpful in diagnosing ear pain, but they may be used to help diagnose some ear pain conditions, especially if a severe infection may be involved.
Treatment of ear pain will focus on the specific cause. In most cases of ear infection, in both adults and children, that may involve:
In some cases, ear pain causes may be more serious. For example, ear pain or tinnitus (ringing in the ear) may be a sign of nasopharyngeal cancer. So are ear infections that keep coming back.
Treatment forear canceror other more serious ear pain causes may involve surgery, radiation, and therapy drugs.
Self-Care Strategies
Simple, at-home therapies can sometimes go a long way in easing your ear pain, especially if the pain is related to fluid build-up from a virus or allergies.
For instance, in order to ease the congestion of sinusitis, otitis media, or eustachian tube blockage, your healthcare provider may recommend taking an over-the-counter decongestant or using a nasal spray.
Other self-care strategies that may be helpful include:
Self-care strategies also play an important role in managing TMJ syndrome. These strategies include:
Ear Flushing
Earwax Buildup and Blockage
Medications
Several different medications may be used to treat your ear pain:
Ear Drops
Likewise, ear drops are the primary treatment for external otitis. There are many different types of ear drops available, including antibiotics, acidifying solutions, and steroids. Many of these ear drops work in combination to reduce inflammation, treat the infection, and ease the pain.
Oral or Intravenous Antibiotics
Pain Relievers
To soothe your ear pain, your healthcare provider may recommend over-the-counter Tylenol (acetaminophen) ornonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as Advil or Motrin (ibuprofen). For the pain of TMJ syndrome, your healthcare provider may also prescribe a muscle relaxant or a tricyclic antidepressant.
20 Ways to Relieve Ear Pain
Surgery
A surgical procedure called amyringotomyis sometimes needed to treat chronic middle ear infections or persistent eustachian tube dysfunction.
With a myringotomy, a small hole is made in your eardrum to ease pressure and let the fluid drain. An ear tube may then be placed in the eardrum to allow airflow into the middle ear and to prevent fluid from re-accumulating.
Surgery may also be indicated for other ear pain diagnoses like a tumor, severe mastoiditis, or abscess formation in perichondritis.
Myringotomy Surgery for Ear Tubes
6 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ely JW, Hansen MR, Clark, EC.Diagnosis of ear pain.Am Fam Physician. 2008;77(5):621-8.Pascoto G, Abreu C, Silva ML, Weber R, Pignatari SS, Stamm A.The impact of acute loss of weight on eustachian tube function.Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2014;18(4):376–379. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1382097Llewellyn A, Norman G, Harden M, et al.Interventions for adult Eustachian tube dysfunction: A systematic review. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2014 Jul. (Health Technology Assessment, No. 18.46.) Chapter 1, Background.Mayo Clinic.Ruptured eardrum (perforated eardrum).U.S. National Library of Medicine,MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, “Perichondritis"American Cancer Society.Signs and Symptoms of Nasopharyngeal Cancer.
6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Ely JW, Hansen MR, Clark, EC.Diagnosis of ear pain.Am Fam Physician. 2008;77(5):621-8.Pascoto G, Abreu C, Silva ML, Weber R, Pignatari SS, Stamm A.The impact of acute loss of weight on eustachian tube function.Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2014;18(4):376–379. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1382097Llewellyn A, Norman G, Harden M, et al.Interventions for adult Eustachian tube dysfunction: A systematic review. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2014 Jul. (Health Technology Assessment, No. 18.46.) Chapter 1, Background.Mayo Clinic.Ruptured eardrum (perforated eardrum).U.S. National Library of Medicine,MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, “Perichondritis"American Cancer Society.Signs and Symptoms of Nasopharyngeal Cancer.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Ely JW, Hansen MR, Clark, EC.Diagnosis of ear pain.Am Fam Physician. 2008;77(5):621-8.Pascoto G, Abreu C, Silva ML, Weber R, Pignatari SS, Stamm A.The impact of acute loss of weight on eustachian tube function.Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2014;18(4):376–379. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1382097Llewellyn A, Norman G, Harden M, et al.Interventions for adult Eustachian tube dysfunction: A systematic review. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2014 Jul. (Health Technology Assessment, No. 18.46.) Chapter 1, Background.Mayo Clinic.Ruptured eardrum (perforated eardrum).U.S. National Library of Medicine,MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, “Perichondritis"American Cancer Society.Signs and Symptoms of Nasopharyngeal Cancer.
Ely JW, Hansen MR, Clark, EC.Diagnosis of ear pain.Am Fam Physician. 2008;77(5):621-8.
Pascoto G, Abreu C, Silva ML, Weber R, Pignatari SS, Stamm A.The impact of acute loss of weight on eustachian tube function.Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2014;18(4):376–379. doi:10.1055/s-0034-1382097
Llewellyn A, Norman G, Harden M, et al.Interventions for adult Eustachian tube dysfunction: A systematic review. Southampton (UK): NIHR Journals Library; 2014 Jul. (Health Technology Assessment, No. 18.46.) Chapter 1, Background.
Mayo Clinic.Ruptured eardrum (perforated eardrum).
U.S. National Library of Medicine,MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, “Perichondritis”
American Cancer Society.Signs and Symptoms of Nasopharyngeal Cancer.
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