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What Could Be Causing Pain In And Around My Outer Ear When Lying On The Side At Night?
Posted on
Tue, 19 Jun 2018
Medically reviewed by
Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team
Tue, 19 Jun 2018
Answered on
Wed, 22 Dec 2021
Last reviewed on
Question : I had pain in/on my outer ear when lying on that side at night. Both ears were painful. What could be causing this? It kept me awake.
Brief Answer:
Several possible causes discussed and recommendations given
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
There are many causes or ear ache and knowing more about other accompanying symptoms will help better understand which is the cause of the pain in your case.
If you have just the pain in the ears and no swelling or redness, no secretions coming out of the ear than it is very unlikely it is an infection or something serious so having pain killers like paracetamol and Ibuprofen might be a good choice.
If you have the pain in the ears and ears feel blocked or secretions come out of the ears, but no redness or swelling on the outside, than it is likely a problem with the ear canal is likely and infection called external otitis is very likely. In this case it is advisable to see your doctor so he can examine your ears and prescribe you antibiotics drops if infection is confirmed.
If you have redness or swelling of the outer ear than infection called cellulitis is likely, this is very unlikely to happen at both ears at the same time but still if redness or swelling of the outer ears than you will need to see your doctor to see if cellulitis is the case.
Rare conditions that might cause ear ache is gout, this would cause also redness and swelling of the outer ear due to inflammation, still it is very important for a doctor to examine to know for sure.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your question but please feel free to reply in case anymore clarification is needed on this.
Kind regards,
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
Several possible causes discussed and recommendations given
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
There are many causes or ear ache and knowing more about other accompanying symptoms will help better understand which is the cause of the pain in your case.
If you have just the pain in the ears and no swelling or redness, no secretions coming out of the ear than it is very unlikely it is an infection or something serious so having pain killers like paracetamol and Ibuprofen might be a good choice.
If you have the pain in the ears and ears feel blocked or secretions come out of the ears, but no redness or swelling on the outside, than it is likely a problem with the ear canal is likely and infection called external otitis is very likely. In this case it is advisable to see your doctor so he can examine your ears and prescribe you antibiotics drops if infection is confirmed.
If you have redness or swelling of the outer ear than infection called cellulitis is likely, this is very unlikely to happen at both ears at the same time but still if redness or swelling of the outer ears than you will need to see your doctor to see if cellulitis is the case.
Rare conditions that might cause ear ache is gout, this would cause also redness and swelling of the outer ear due to inflammation, still it is very important for a doctor to examine to know for sure.
I hope this is helpful and answers to your question but please feel free to reply in case anymore clarification is needed on this.
Kind regards,
Antoneta Zotaj, MD
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vaishalee Punj
Answered by
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