ear_pain
Table of Contents
painful ear
Introduction
Aetiology
primary ear pathology
-
- usually has pain on moving the tragus and may have conductive deafness
-
- usually has conductive deafness and inflamed TM
- external ear pathology
- chondritis
- periauricular pathology
- painful lymph nodes
- skin lesions such as acne / pustules / boils
- traumatic causes
- fractures
- ruptured ear drum from barotrauma
referred pain
- painful throat
- jaw pain / TMJ issues
- lesser occipital nerve irritation
- supplies parietal area of scalp and peri-auricular areas and can cause pain from base of skull and allodynia of parietal scalp and ear
- greater occipital nerve irritation
- generally doesn't cause ear pain but rather occipital and vertex scalp pain +/- triggering of migraines or cervicogenic headaches
neurologic pain
- nervus intermedius neuralgia
- irritation at various sites such as:
- cisternal course:
- emerges from the brainstem in the cerebellopontine angle, it sits tightly between the main motor root of the facial nerve (CN VII) and the vestibulocochlear nerve (CN VIII)
- most commonly by aberrance of the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) or, less frequently, the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) and vertebral artery or by ass lesions in the cerebellopontine angle, such as acoustic neuromas (vestibular schwannomas) or meningiomas
- at the internal auditory meatus (canalicular segment)
- fractures of the temporal bone, localized inflammation or operative injury
- at the geniculate ganglion (within the facial canal)
- at the external auditory canal and tympanic membrane (peripheral terminals)
- peripheral sensory endings of the nerve supply the skin of the back wall of the ear canal and portions of the eardrum
- mechanical irritation — such as cleaning the ear with a cotton swab, exposure to cold wind, or a severe outer ear infection can sometimes act as a physical trigger that exacerbates an already irritated nervus intermedius
ear_pain.txt · Last modified: 2026/10/18 01:14 by wh