I too experience a hot-ear, in my right ear only, generally accompanied by a unilateral headache (but not a migraine or conventional headache - so doctors think I'm crazy when I explain this). I don't drink at all and my overall blood pressure is normal.
My red/painful ear started when I was about 24 years old, and it used to be extrememly annoying and painful, lasting 2-4 hours at a time, sometimes more than once a day. Thankfully now that I eat a little better and get some excercise, the pain is generally down to about an hour at a time. I remember getting similar headaches when I was quitting marijuana, though I don't think its tied to that since I haven't done it in years now. They did seem to start again when I was in a car-accident.
I have found various forms of temporary relief, as the hot-ear thing happens to me very regularly, at least several times a week, generally lasting an hour or so. One thing that works well is to get a cup of ice water, let it get really cold, and then dip a Q-tip in it for a minute and then stick the Q-tip in the hot-ear. Obviously the Q-tip heats back up quickly, but after doing this a dozen times or so it actually made it feel all better. (In a pinch once my wife actually jammed a frozen baby carrot in my ear, which also helped pretty good since it stayed cold for awhile.)
Another thing is that my massage therapist pointed out that it sounds muscular to her, and showed me where a muscle on the side of my head above my ear is. Of course rubbing the muscle during the pain only makes it worse (please see if this is a very sensitive muscle on you as well!), but if I remember to massage it a bit while there is no pain, it seems to help prevent the pain later in some cases. My massage therapist did say NOT to use heat or ice on that muscle due to where it is at. Besides, I've tried an ice pack over the ear/head area in general and it only helps while the ice pack is on, and it heats right back up afterward.
Due to the pain only lasting 1-3 hours I would sometimes take a painkiller (at least something as strong as a Percocet, anything less didn't touch the pain -- Darvocet, Tylonol-3, Ibuprofen 800 were all a joke) however I would get a residual effect the next day and the red/painful ear/headache would come back with a vengence, so I don't recommend prescription painkillers, even only occassionally for treatment of the red-ear.
I can't wait to try the 'tounge-trick' to see if it works, even though I'm sure it really has nothing to do with diverting energy.
I'll bookmark this page, as this seems to be current with other people having the same issue. Too bad the link at the top is broken!
Comment
I too experience a hot-ear, in my right ear only, generally accompanied by a unilateral headache (but not a migraine or conventional headache - so doctors think I'm crazy when I explain this). I don't drink at all and my overall blood pressure is normal.
My red/painful ear started when I was about 24 years old, and it used to be extrememly annoying and painful, lasting 2-4 hours at a time, sometimes more than once a day. Thankfully now that I eat a little better and get some excercise, the pain is generally down to about an hour at a time. I remember getting similar headaches when I was quitting marijuana, though I don't think its tied to that since I haven't done it in years now. They did seem to start again when I was in a car-accident.
I have found various forms of temporary relief, as the hot-ear thing happens to me very regularly, at least several times a week, generally lasting an hour or so. One thing that works well is to get a cup of ice water, let it get really cold, and then dip a Q-tip in it for a minute and then stick the Q-tip in the hot-ear. Obviously the Q-tip heats back up quickly, but after doing this a dozen times or so it actually made it feel all better. (In a pinch once my wife actually jammed a frozen baby carrot in my ear, which also helped pretty good since it stayed cold for awhile.)
Another thing is that my massage therapist pointed out that it sounds muscular to her, and showed me where a muscle on the side of my head above my ear is. Of course rubbing the muscle during the pain only makes it worse (please see if this is a very sensitive muscle on you as well!), but if I remember to massage it a bit while there is no pain, it seems to help prevent the pain later in some cases. My massage therapist did say NOT to use heat or ice on that muscle due to where it is at. Besides, I've tried an ice pack over the ear/head area in general and it only helps while the ice pack is on, and it heats right back up afterward.
Due to the pain only lasting 1-3 hours I would sometimes take a painkiller (at least something as strong as a Percocet, anything less didn't touch the pain -- Darvocet, Tylonol-3, Ibuprofen 800 were all a joke) however I would get a residual effect the next day and the red/painful ear/headache would come back with a vengence, so I don't recommend prescription painkillers, even only occassionally for treatment of the red-ear.
I can't wait to try the 'tounge-trick' to see if it works, even though I'm sure it really has nothing to do with diverting energy.
I'll bookmark this page, as this seems to be current with other people having the same issue. Too bad the link at the top is broken!