I suspect that my 89 yr. old Mom has Lyme disease, for many reasons. Yesterday she was complaining of her outer ears being so sore that it disturbed her sleep.
She cannot lie with the side of her head on a pillow because of the pain. She said that her ears hurt if she just touches them.
Anyone else have this problem?
-caveman
Posted by Limping Lily (Member # 5099) on :
Have had ear pain for 4 years,mostly on the inside,like an earache,but not usually sensitivity of the outer part.Occasionally the outer ear will redden for no good reason.My hearing comes and goes along with ringing at times.A little disconcerting, but not usually painful at the same time.The ENT I saw 3 years ago could find nothing wrong to account for it. Posted by BugBit (Member # 7829) on :
I occasionally have a real sharp pain on the ear. It is usually in one small spot and very intense. It doesn't last long usually, but it can and does interfere with sleep. Sometimes I will have a little hard lump where it hurts, sometimes not. Sometime they will just get real hot and red. *Bit*
Posted by DR. Wiseass (Member # 6777) on :
Hey Cave darlin' - how are YOU? (Email or PM me sometime!)
Interesting question.
I personally have not had outer ear pain, but while in the LLMD's office yesterday with daughter AND hubby - my LLMD noticed how RED my hubby's ear are.
Now hubby doesn't notice such things as he is the type to close his eyes and believe everything is 'normal' - even when it's not.
LLMD said that RED EARS can be indicative of Lyme , and then pointed to a poster that had pictures of ears on them. Hmmm.
That's pretty much my 2 cents worth in this topic...
I hope your dear Mom doesn't have it, especially at her age - but my hoping that she doesn't have it doesn't change the situation one bit.
So I shall keep her in my prayers, and I do hope you can find some answers and most importantly some COMFORT for her at this very golden age.
Blessings,
Posted by mikken (Member # 2276) on :
Red ears can also be a sign of allergy...especially food allergies in my experience (as can ringing in the ears)...
But caveman - can you see anything unusual about your mother's ears? Any chafing or dry skin?
The reason I ask is because my when my sister has a yeast flareup, she actually gets it on her outer ears. She says they itch and hurt.
The whole Lyme/yeast connection sucks. Posted by lymeinhell (Member # 4622) on :
I had this horribly when I was herxing. Until recently, I had no idea where the pain was coming from. Know I know better....
Muscle spazms at the base of my skull.
Take a knuckle and press really hard at the base of skull on either right or left side. See if that area is sore. It may just be referred pain.
If that's where it's coming from, you'll need to either go for massage or use glucosamine lotion and use knuckles to try and break up the spazm.
Maybe she's just magnesium deficient without having Lyme? I hope she's ok.
Posted by tjtighe (Member # 4057) on :
My ears often tingle and sometimes I get a pain in my right ear along with it. Just signs that the meds are working, I guess.
tj
Posted by mammachase (Member # 5697) on :
yes, when herxing I have severe outer ear around the outside rim pain when sleeping on my sides it hurts to the touch, usually only lasts a few days but most of the time my body feels like I was run over by a truck, just running a bar of soap over my body when showering hurts me!!!!
Posted by trueblue (Member # 7348) on :
caveman, I have this outer ear thing that sounds like your mom's. I'll wake up during the night and the outside of my ear, the one touching the pillow, will be very painful, and red.
It makes the whole side of my head and neck hurt and I can't lay down on it, again. It seems to subside in a few hours.
I have no clue what it is but it seems to come and go mysteriously. I never know when it will happen.
Sorry, that was no help at all. When I tell doctors about it they just nod. (Like they do about so many other things.)
Posted by dmc (Member # 5102) on :
periodically, the inside ridges in my ears will swell in spots (looks like a bug bite) and will be very sensitive. sometimes it hrts to lie on which ever ear has it.
Noticed this happening more while on ketek, and my face broke out with strange pimples that weren't acne.
Posted by caveman (Member # 4267) on :
Thanks everyone for your posts and kind comments.
My mom lives over a 100 miles from me so I only learned of this problem when she told me over the phone. I have checked back with her after seeing most of your posts and she says her ears aren't red (she had a granddaughter check them out).
She did mention a little bump on the edge of one ear; but both ears hurt.
She is now saying that although the ear pain is bothersome, it's not all that bad. Not compared to her other numerous aches and pains I guess.
I told her about the possibility of referred pain that one of you mentioned.
Her health and well being has really deteriorated over the past year. Two years ago she got a tick bite and a big rash at about the same time I got my deer tick bite, which re-infected me with Lyme disease, and Rocky Mtn. Spotted fever critters.
My arthritic pains have been greatly helped by all of the antibiotics I'm on, and I hate to see (or hear) her suffer when she might get some relief. Unfortunately her doctor swears by the Elisha test (I tried to get him to give her a Western Blot test, but to no avail).
I'm sero-negative for Elisha, and only one band on Western Blot, and I had a beautiful bull's eye rash and over 30 other Lyme symptoms.
And I've seen the big list of medical articles archieved here somewhere that addresses this issue.
I'm going to see if I can take her to another local doctor who might give her a better diagnostic test, and/or consider treating her with some antibiotics to see if it will help.
Unfortunately my mom is too frail now to make the 6 hour trip (one way) from her home to my LLMD. Actually, I couldn't do that either at the moment!
Thanks again, everyone. I had just wondered if this unusual symptom could possibly be another one among us Lyme victims.
-caveman
Posted by lyme_suz (Member # 7628) on :
My ears hurt when I try to talk on the phone.
It's discomfort more than pain. They also get cold.
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