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!