I've been having constant painful ear aches everyday and night for the past two weeks and I know it's probably from the cancer but has anyone ever experienced this? If so was there anything that made them better? I don't like taking my pain meds if I don't have to and I've been taking Tylenol but that doesn't help so I've been taking pain pills when the pain is at a 10. Also, I'm having my partial glossectomy in a few days and was wondering when you had surgery, did they go away or is this more serious than I think? I've been researching and can't find out why we get them so I don't know if it should be a big concern and call my dr.
Thanks guys

It could be the tumor or swelling pushing on the nerves causing you to hurt. Dont be afraid to take your pain meds, thats what they are for. If its not strong enough, call your doc and ask for something stronger. Being in pain is not productive to the patient so dont suffer needlessly.

Hi Shelby,

I experienced this. My ENT said it was normal as everything is connected. Could be 'referred pain' My back tooth on the other side from the tumor hurt like crazy as well - I thought that the cap had cracked. (It hadn't)

What sort of worked for me was a blow dryer set on med/high blowing in my ear. I know that it's an old remedy, but it was better than pain meds. I don't like narcotics either, but they helped a great deal - especially later. Christine is correct on this!

If you are concerned, you should call your doctor. They should be more than willing to examine you again and tell you if there is a problem that needs attention sooner than a week from now.

I was moved to the top of the surgery list when I voiced my concerns.

I was terrified that the tumor was growing down my throat and into my ear. When I came out of surgery I was relieved to know that they did not have to split my jaw and go down the back of my throat to get all of the cancer.

And yes - the pain goes away eventually after the surgery. I still get a twinge now and again, but nothing like before the 'exorcism'.

It's funny what makes you happy once you go through this journey.

My husband had earaches, both before the treatment (the cancer was causing it), then after his first radiation session and his first chemo the next day. It was so bad they had to give him an oxycodone. The RO explained that it was probably the result of some swelling after the Rx. Then over the weekend, the earache went away. John was not taking the codeine he was given because he felt it was not doing much for the sore throat. The RO suggested he try as it would 'take the edge off' so that he could cope better.

Shelby

I had similar terrible earaches for a year, constantly misdiagnosed, before a CT scan showed cancer. The good news is that the surgery should take care of that earache since it is often caused by the tumor growing and pressing on a nerve. The nerve interprets that as an earache.
At 19, you have been bombarded with advertisements and warnings about pain pills during your formative years (unlike mine- when it was better living thru chemistry), but it's really different for cancer patients. Please don't wait until 10 level, you should be starting at 5 or 6 level. When the pain pills are for real physical pain from cancer, it's not the same as the "pain of living" that abusers and addicts try to treat. You will not see tragic stories here at OCF of people becoming addicts, because we all want to get off them as soon as we can, BUT you need to start getting effective pain control asap to help you in your battle.
EAT UP A STORM IF YOU CAN THIS CHRISTMAS, before the surgery,
Everything and anything, don't worry about calories etc, you will lose weight during TX. When you go in after Christmas for your surgery, in the ICU, take every morphine shot they offer. The less pain you feel, the faster you will recover.
Once I was diagnosed and they found out the cancer was causing the earache, they immediately prescribed percocet every 4 hours.
Be sure to mention to the surgeon that you have been having earaches but as far as I know, earpain is a very common side effect of this cancer. As noted in some posts, the medical term is "referred pain", which in plain english means it's not really your ear at all, but the tumor.
So sorry to see someone so young posting here.
Charm

I agree that it could be the tumor growth or even a new tumor. It happened to me. it was from a neck lymph node presding on a netve that was eminating shooting pain up to my ear, and used a Fentynal patch to control it, but there are other medications down the ladder, like codeine, that can be used first. My pain eventually went away from the radiation shrinkage. Pain also interferes with the body's healing process, inflamation healing, which you don't want after surgery, and effects your QOL too. I suggest calling your doctor also, and maybe even see somone in pain management, if your facility has one, to get it under control, and speech and swallow therapist who can give you exercises. Good luck with the surgery.

Thanks guys! This really helped me a lot! I had some left over pain meds from my biopsy and ACL surgery I had in the past so I've been using those now and feeling a lot better. I'll have to try the hair dryer trick too! Just in school they're always like if you take too many pain meds you'll become a druggy and addicted and they're bad for you! But I guess thats more of a scare tactic haha! Thanks for the info about the "referred pain" and the tumor possibly pushing on a nerve. That makes a lot of sense. I'll be sure to tell my Dr. though when I go in for surgery. Hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas! I know I'll be stuffing my face!

Thank you for all your generosity and help!

Shelby,

I had bad neck/ear pain before this last round of treatment. My GP prescribed Gabaplatin (sp.) AKA Nurotin (sp.)this is not a narcotic, it sothes he nerve linings or something but at low doses I never felt anything other than the pain going away. It was fast too. I took my first pill and had relief in 1/2 hour.

Later the doctor said I could up the dose but when I did that it made me dizzy and I couldn't focus my eyes well so I went back to the low dose.

After a few treatments of IMRT the pain started to go away entirely although it was soon replaced by the normal radiation related pain sources you will see discussed here often.

Neurontin is actually an a medication used for seizures. Ive used this as well. It worked wonders for me in helping to stop the intense stabbing pains I would have in my face. It also comes in liquid form which I used.

It's important to understand that the majority of your cranial nerves (the 12 paired nerves that make up the nerve network of your head and neck area) terminate in the Trigeminal Nucleus in the brain and is why "referred pain" is common for Oral Cancer patients and one of the reasons that tooth pain is so intense and often seems to radiate through the entire area. FYI, Trigeminal Neuropathy is one of the most painful conditions known to man with very little treatment options, and happens to be the epitome of Head and Neck referred/neuropathic pain.

Now understand that neuropathic pain is generally different than referred pain, which is pain felt in a location different from the origination point. Neuropathy occurs when there is actual nerve damage, or an interruption in the nerve impulses, which wouldn't generally be caused by the tumor pushing on the nerve, only if it invaded the nerve i.e. Perinueral Involvement or PNI. Although generally speaking PNI results in numbness and loss of feeling which is why facial numbness is a symptom of OC. The majority of Neuropathy experienced by H&N cancer patients is caused by resection (surgery) or damage from radiation.

Generally with nerve related pain (which Neurontin/Gabapentin would be prescribed for), will feel like a burning sensation or crushing feeling . If you are experiencing referred pain from the tumor "pushing" on a nerve, it's just going to be discomfort to intense "pain", which you would want to use a narcotic for. Pain should always be controlled at a 3 or under, as pain is the enemy of healing as it puts the body in distress, so it's important not to think about addiction issues, just pain management.

As someone as "experienced" as myself with pain meds can kick them, anyone can in my humble opinion (not that I believe I can in any way be considered humble).

Anyway talk to your Dr and or Pharmacist and try to articulate what type of pain you are experiencing so they may help diagnose which med should work best for you.

Keep your chin up and keep looking for answers.

Eric

Great post as always, Eric. I always learn something.

For many years although thankfully not lately I've suffered from cluster headaches, which find their full flowering in the trigeminal nerve. They are distinctly unpleasant. I'm understating.

Various remedies work to lesser or greater degrees, which brings me to your situation, Shelby. A med that my neurologist prescribed to me and that absolutely is a giant killer for clusters is Sumatriptan, known often by its trade name Imitrex. This is a drug that was developed to treat migraines but it also seems to work on clusters (which are different and more painful if you can believe it).

So depending on how things go after you surgery (fingers and toes crossed), if you still have ear pain it might be worthwhile mentioning this drug to your docs to see what they say.

I'll be pulling for you tomorrow!