Stabbing pain behind ear!

Can anyone relate to what is happening to me?

All day I have had a stabbing pain behind my ear, it happens sporatically. And now by the end of the day, my head is so very tender there when I touch it.

I looked up cluster headaches, and it doesn't sound like that,

I don't like how it feels, kinda scares me a bit.....

I took some advil over an hour ago, it did dull the pain some, but it is still happening.

I don't want more pain, I have enough already!

Sherri, I have had a lot of problem with ear pain. Mine feels like a stabbing in the left ear drum. It did this for about a week once before, then eventually went away. I went to the doctor, but he said nothing looked wrong. It started again a few days ago when I had to spend 2 days on a conference call. But I did not have the phone to that ear.

As best I can figure, the auditory nerve somehow gets over excited and causes the pain. As my migraines have a strong auditory component (over sensitivity to sound, and sounds triggering the migraines), there is some kind of connection there.

Sherry,
have your ear immediately checked by a doctor. If it's an infection, it can cause you serious problems and you need antibiotics to fight it.
Of course, it can be only a generic inflammation, but also in this case, the ear pain must not be underestimated as it can lead to unpleasant consequences.

Take care

It's not "in" my ear, it's behind it there is a bone, seems to be on that bone, kinda on the surface and under the area. Hard to explain really. I finally took some advil last night, it dulled it alot, then this morning it started again, so I took more advil. Seems to have gone away, but my head is very tender there now.

Very strange.

I have a remedy for the ole' ear aches though. I crush fresh garlic in olive oil and warm it in the microwave. Drop some in your ear and stuff cotton in, leave over night and usually by morning my ear ache is gone.. Seriously good stuff!

Your pillow case may smell like a salad in the morning!

Sherri, I saw my doctor yesterday. He found that the pressure in my left ear (behind the eardrum) was on the high side. He thought this could possibly be causing the intermittent stabbing pains. He recommended an OTC decongestant might clear it up.

No idea if yours could be the same thing, but thought I would pass it along. Is your ear still sore?

Thanks Migrainegirl,

It comes and goes. I might give the decongestant a try. Advil was helping it a little bit.

Thanks!

Hi Sheri,
I have occipital neuralgia. I have just had decompression surgery from it but I spent over two years in bed in agony with it. The lesser occipital nerve travels up behind the ear and can cause throbbing. I had trouble wearing glasses or a hat because of the tenderness there. Occipital neuralgia is in general compression of the occipital nerve or their paths. I hope this helps.
Chloe

Hi Sherri. I know it has been a while since you posted this but I am curious what you found out about your pain, if anything. I am experiencing the exact same thing. It isn't in the ear for me either and the bone at the upper part of my ear hurts to the touch. When I am not getting sharp pains it constantly feels like someone is pressing really hard on the area where my head and ear meet (toward the upper part) I don't know what it is. I have had it for two weeks now. I originally thought it was my recurrent bell's palsy acting up again, but after about 5 days the pain started moving down my neck and into my collar bone. Did you ever find out what it was when you had it? Did the pain spread? How long did it last? After 2 weeks of this frequent stabbing pain and constant milder pain, i am really getting warn down. I have actually been on the verge of tears for the past couple days from it but I have no way to go to a doc. Did you find anything that helped?

I also get a sharp pain "behind the ear" at times, it's actually almost at the back of the head, but off to one side so "behind the ear" is exactly how I describe it as well. I have had times when the first sign of a headache is a stabbing sensation behind the ear which later turns into a full blown migraine. Sometimes it's just a quick stab behind the ear and nothing else happens. It varies widely, but then so do my migraines.

Sorry, I just haven't been well enough to get on here. It has been bad, but I got a steroid just a couple days ago and finally today I am feeling better.

My neuro told me the stabbing pain behind my ears was an "optical migraine" Period.. that's all he said, (he is such a "shit" )

That was my day for Botox injections and wasn't considered a regular visit, so I think that's why he didn't go into it.

Hi!! Any help from your doctors or our friends out there?? Are you able to get relief, and if so, exactly what did the doctors tell you it is caused by. . I have this exact same thing! It throbs, I can feel it = just BEHIND the ear!!! My pain goes into my face and my right eye!! Almost feels like a dagger from behind the ear through to the eye!!
Thanks

I think this stabbing behind the ear is most likely a pinched nerve in the neck. I get alot of shooting pains from tight neck and shoulder muscles.

I recently found a really good masseuse who works out all the knots and spasms in my neck. It has helped a lot. Most only seem to work on the back and shoulders. But the neck is key. Look at where your trapezius muscles and sternomastoid connect to your head. Lots of headaches originate there.

http://neckmuscles.net/

Hi! Wonder if you solved the mystery behind the pain behind the ear. . . it is NOT pain in the ear. . . . I have had this for several years. . . it usually last 2-4 days. . . . constant and the only thing that helps is just laying down with ice. . doesn't completely resolve the pain, but in case, moving, exertion, bending, anything else just exacerbates pain!!

Mom used to get this...I discovered it was when she ate a lot of dairy(like ice cream). Drs did all kinds of tests, neck braced her, sent her to psychiatrists...but she was German, didn't grow up having a lot of dairy and I began to notice a pattern. Now occasionally as an adult, I get this, invariably after eating a lot of ice cream or frozen yoghurt or Mac and cheese. Go figure...it's exactly where you describe, bone BEHIND the ear on the bone. Watch your diet ...best of luck.

Hi everyone - this is my first post.

Just for a bit of background, I have had migraines all my life and they did become more frequent when I was about 25 years old. So, like most of you, I have a neurologist who has been seeing me for over 25 years. I've tried many different solutions with respect to experimenting with what medications have been available over the years. I have had a regiment for probably 10 years that has helped me - I categorize the headaches in 3 types: mild - medium - monster. For mild headaches, I do will take Excedrin, and do my best to endure it, hoping it will not become a medium. For medium headaches, I take Fioricet, which works most of the time. For the Monsters migraine, the only medication that will make it go away is Zomig. That's the back ground.

When I turned 50, about 18 months ago, I went on a bike ride with my family - just a leisurely one, organized by the neighborhood, but it was 20 miles long, so my blood was really pumping, having not exercised in a while. That day and that night, I heard a noise in my ear, a hissing sound. Next day I was at the neurologist's office, and he was sharp enough to realize that my complaint was very different from the usual "my headaches are generally the same, perhaps a few more migraines in a month, compared to the past 6 months", and he ordered some imaging. I had an MRI, then an MRA (visual of the arteries). Apparently, there was 95% blockage in one of my 4 major arteries to the brain. After an angiogram test, which measured the blockage and checked the rest of my brain as well as my heart, that turned out to be the only place in my entire body where there was any blockage.

Now to the interesting part - for years people have been having surgery to install stents in the arteries of the heart to open them up. Intercranial stenting is very NEW - in other words, only those medical centers which have radiological surgeons who do it every day, should ever perform this surgery on any of you. I am fortunate to live in Houston, Texas, with a world renowned med center, and my surgeon is one of those. It was successful, controversial (the hospital physicians were not gung-ho about the liability), but nevertheless, I was able to have the surgery and it was basically a mechanical fix. The negative was I had a small stroke from the angiogram test while waiting on my surgery, which I have recovered from about 90%.

Migraine girl:

All that to say, with the stroke, although small, I had some nerve damage on the left side of my body. So I get shooting pains behind my ear, right at the bony area you are speaking of. My neurologist has prescribed to me Cymbalta, because it apparently helps with nerve pain. I've not had this before, it comes and goes, and I'm sure there are other medications that assist with nerve pain. I think it is always important if a person has NEW symptoms, they should go to the Neurologist and have a discussion about it. It is the symptoms, after all, that tell us something is wrong.

I certainly do not mean to imply that you have a big issue like I did, but I'm just saying that nerve pain for me, was a result of nerve damage, and there are methods to treat that sort of pain. It's not the same type of pain that one would take generic pain medication for.

Anyway, I wish you the best, and I'm glad to be a part of the discussion.

Lisa

Lisa, wow what a fascinating story. That's so great that your neurologist caught it and they were able to correct. And it is certainly a cautionary tale for us all. How are your migraines now?