sore throat and ear pain but eh doctor can find nothing wrong???

[mckenzie]

I first went to the doctors back in early december as I was in a lot of pain wiht my right ear and the right hand side of my throat. I was eye wateringly painful to swallow or gulp and my ear hurt continually, only getting some relief when i laid on that side. Doctor said he thought i'd got an infection in my lower tract and gave me antibiotics.
I went back just before christmas as it was a little bit better but certainly not gone. Different doctor this time who thought that the ear drum looked a bit 'traumatised' and gave me a bigger dose of antibiotics.
I've had to go back today as it's never got better and these last few days it's as painful asit was right at the beginning, even making me tearful at tiem as it hurts so much. Again the doctor cant really see anything in the ear nor anything in the throat that could be causing it. It's definitly worse in the evenings but that might just be because it's then I have some time to relax and maybe I think about it more.

Does anyone have any ideas please what might be causing this? I do find that in the morning I need to have a good blow of my nose and quite a lot comes out and also, I have yukky stuff that i can feel at the back of my throat which usually comes out in the morning when I cough continually for about 30 mins (usually in the school playground which is hideously embarrassing)

I'm not a hypochondriac, honest. I am a bit run down just now (I started another thread the other day about spots on the tongue!) but I really would like some advice about how to get this shifted. I eat healthily, lots of fruit, I exercise regularly, dont smoke, drink only socially.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

[mckenzie]

sorry, I know it's long winded and boring but......... Bump

[chicagomum]

Can't help I'm afraid but like you have had a sore throat only in a particular area on the left had side for about a month. Have an appointment on friday to have it checked again (beginning to wonder if it could be something like a fish bone stuck there?)

[merryberry]

ouch. no idea on diagnosis but ask your gp for a referral to ear, nose and throat specialist next time. adult ent knowledge is a rare thing for gps to have.

[edam]

Agree with Merryberry, this has been going on for a month now, you need someone with a more detailed knowledge of ear, nose and throat to check it out.

[tamum]

My gut feeling is that you've got some kind of abscess which can't be seen easily. I would definitely second the suggestion of getting a referral to an ENT consultant.

[mckenzie]

thanks all for the replies. Doctor has suggested I try nasal spray as she thinks that's the first thing that the ENT doctor would do for me anyway so I've started that today. Also some basic decongestants which I had before but while I was taking the antibiotics. She obviously thinks they might work better without.
She's asked to see me again in 2 weeks time.

If it is the temporomandibular joint Tipex, any idea how I could treat it?

[starlover]

how odd... that;'s the second time temporomandibular has popped up on mn today!

[starlover]

yep... chicagomum has just bumped it actualyl!

[mckenzie]

I wouldn't say I'm stress out Tipex, just a bit run down. I'm mainly eating the same as 10 month old DD at the moment, in fact mashing mine up more than hers so my jaw should be getting quite a rest now.
I'll watch the other thread too to see if anyone adds anything interesting. I do feel lumps though as if my glands are swollen but doctor insists they aren't. Could that be a sign of the temporomandibular joint being stressed?

[chicagomum]

TMJ discomfort is more associated with earache and muscular pain including headaches not sore throats, nor increased mucus discharge.

[hoxtonchick]

you're in london aren't you mckenzie? you can get a same day referral to the royal nataional throat nose & ear hospital on gray's inn road (right next to king's cross). they have an emergency clinic that i've been to a couple of times which is excellent. you need your gp to write a letter & then you just go there. worth a go. i had really bad earache for 6 weeks when i was pregnant with dd last year, it was grim. hope you feel better soon.

[chicagomum]

Hope you don't think I was being confrontational Tipex (or trying to say "I know best") as I assure you I wasn't but in my experience (yes I am a dentist) pain on swallowing isn't a symptom I've ever come across. (And as I've stated I to have been suffering with a sore throat for a good for weeks and have had my colleagues at work rule out dental origns).

[starlover]

doctor versus dentist... round one!

hehehehe

[mckenzie]

thanks for that tip Hoxtonchick. I'll give it a few days to see if the nasal spray and decongestants do any good first but if the pain stays like this, i wont be able to wait the full 2 weeks before seeing my doctor again, that's for sure.
Thanks everybody for your replies.

[chicagomum]

LOL starlover (university was constantly dentist versus doctor -ie "what are you studying?" - answer "dentistry" - response "Oh! I'm sorry didn't you get into medicine?")

[starlover]

[chicagomum]

Tipex - How old is ds (pressumably under a year). If you were to (gently ) pull his top lip up and look at the muscle attachment, does it come down low (ie close to the edge of the gum). If so that is what is preventing the teeth coming together. But this alters (gets higher)as the jaw grows so may rectify itself \9for when the adult teeth come through). If not it is a simple (and minor) surgical proceedure to reposition it. Also on a positive note, gaps between deciduous teeth show that a child is less likely to need orthodontic work in later life (ie more space for bigger adult teeth).

[toniszostak]

I have the same problem. Started 2 days after Thanksgiving 2018. I've been on 2 different antibiotics (originally had an ear infection) and the pain almost clears up until 3 days after I go off them, ear drops ($327.), 2 MRI, dentist x-rays, but infection still shows up in my sputum off and on. I'm on my second ENT doctor. Sometimes the pain is in my jaw, ear, neck, etc. I have a feeling it is my tooth implant. Still need to talk to doc about second MRI on neck.