the local fucking walk in centre is open till 10 pm

[sanielle]

How does that help anyone? I am sitting at nearly 3 dying of pain in my ear. No idea what is wrong, but I sure as hell can't sleep. My whole head and face hurt on that side.
My jaw has clenched up from the pain and I feel like someone is stabbing me in the ear. What do I do, I can't go in to casualty for what is essentially and ear ache.. But I just want to cry :( :( :( Yes, I am pregnant don't think it is that making me act like a baby though. I'll just go in first thing at 7.. but fuck me this hurts.

Actually not to worry you but perhaps a quick check in at the hospital would be ok seeing as your pregnant. Some pain in the ear can be caused by infection and needs antibiotics to stop temp from rising. Something that might be best avoided when pregnant. A quick word with a nurse wouldnt hurt. Or call nhs 24 to check.

That sounds awful. Give NHS Direct a call? Have you taken any painkillers?

Don't see why you can't go to cas. You are in pain, you don't know why and you're pregnant. Good enough reasons IMO. You're not likely to sleep otherwise.

I am with them, don't feel silly about going to the ER for ear pain. Ear pain can be really intense. Hope you feel better soon.

Don't you have access to an emergency doctor/locum via your surgery?

Couldn't write back last night at Mumsnet went off line.. Spent ages looking up dodgy home remedies then finally passed out with an ice pack held to my ear siting up on the couch. Went this morning (may have got there at 6:30.. to make sure I was first when they opened at 7.. ) I woke up from so much pain my jaw was seized up and was actually swollen down half my face.

I have excema and both ears were quite bad apparenlty inside but the one that was bothering me the nurse said had a bad inflamation in my ear canal and an infection. They've given me something and told me to take parecetemol. Already feels better than last night. just hope it doesn't start up again.. Thanks for the responses.

had been going to suggest otitis externa..ear canal infection, my friend had it and said it was the worst pain she has ever had..it should settle soon, hope it does!!

i had this too - warm compress is better than cold cos lik you say it can seize the joints.

and yes its the worst pain ever.

just call nhs direct next time - they sent me to out of hours doc and as it was middle of night and weekend i ended up seeing 4 doctors that weekednd as it was so bad.

ps might be worth a trip to your gp when they open again on monday

Worst pain I ever had. I howled like a dog for 3 nights. Would give birth rather than go through that pain again hope you are feeling better soon..

Can you call the out of hours GP. I am sure they won't visit but our one has a 24hr clinic at the hospital that they can 'invite' us to if they want to check us out (and they always do). Sort of a cross between a walk in centre and A&E.

Ear ache is hellish . Worse if you can't drug yourself up. Hope you are better soon.

We have 24 hour access to medical advice via nhs 24. Use it!

Didn't bother with the 24 hour line as I thought they would need to look inside Pointydog.. I did think about it though. Never thought an ear ache could be this bad!

I will try a warm compress auntie magee can't hurt can it. I did feel a bit better after a warm shower so might me something in it. But the cold definitly helped too.. might have just numbed it though.

Fanjo and peggys twin.. You are right I'd just about do anything right now over this! Although Peggy when you "howled like a dog for 3 days" was that before or after you saw a doctor? Please say before or I might throw up. Dh was putting the drops in while i curled up in a ball on my side.. as he brushed my hair off my ears I had the most horrific pain..

Really wish it hadn't happened while I was pregnant. normally I would have had no issues with raiding the cabinent and dosing myself to the eyeballs with whatever we have spare!

If you call your out of hours GP service they can sort something out - either meet you at a&e or a home visit you need anti biotics, lovely. Walk-in centres are for those well enough to get there or wait overnight, not pregnants curled up in agony. NHS 24 can help you find your out of hours service and also triage your call as urgent so the OOH docs call you back quick. Personally I wouldn't put anything in your ear till you've been seen by a medic. Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks BOH, the drops have been prescribed by a nurse I saw this morning at 7am, my original post was at 3 am and I wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't face A&E on a friday night in Essex and didn't think the 24 hr line would help. I will definitlty keep it in mind for next time though due to everybody's recomendations!

Ah, sorry. Hope you're on the mend very soon. Ear infections can push you to the edge of reason!

hope you're feeling bit better - def try a hot water bottle instead of cold compress, or microwaved wheat bag, the heat really does help the pain (combined with drugs natch )

Why does it get worse at 3 am?!

I can not do work monday if I have another night of this. Feel like the other ear might be getting bad too.

sods law isn't it? always gets worse at night :( can you take a dose before you go to bed then set an alarm when that dose is due to wear off to take another one?

also would definitely try to see your gp tomorrow especially if the other one has started feeling bad. they might be able to prescribe stronger drops or somthing.

have you had any discharge?

I also howled for days when I had this - i ended up having it in both ears - before and after seeing the doctor.

you poor thing, earache is hell. I had it so bad one night I howled all night, DH couldn't leave work and I ended up being sick everywhere. A few days later my ear drum burst (not as bad as it sounds!), but nothing on earth was like that pain. Go to GPs to make sure it's not getting worse, hope tonight goes better xx Also, I showered with ear plugs to keep water out, can't remember why, I think water made it worse or something.

If I was in that much pain then I'd go to A&E if it was out of hours and if there were no other OOH option available.

We get lots of adults actually calling 999 when they have an earache (or stomach ache, and toothache and cramp and sore throats etc - but that's a whole different AIBU thread for another day).

If there's nowhere open don't suffer in pain, pop down to the local a&e.

Thanks for all the replys guys. Last night I was up every hour to two hours.. But I still got to sleep each time. So significantly better. I caved though and took co-codomol yesterday which I had hoped to avoid. I get really scared about taking anythign but I just had to keep myself dosed. :( really scared but I was making myself sick from the pain. I actually had cried for most of two nights straight.. proper screaming, rocking yourself crying. So the sleep last night was a huge relief.

Have taken today off work to sit at home and relax (lay in bed all day watching crap telly) but am feeling like a million times better.

:)