Otalgia

Otalgia or an earache is ear pain. Primary otalgia is ear pain that originates inside the ear. Referred otalgia is ear pain that originates from outside the ear.

Otalgia is not always associated with ear disease. It may be caused by several other conditions, such as impacted teeth, sinus disease, inflamed tonsils, infections in the nose and pharynx, throat cancer, and occasionally as a sensory aura that precedes a migraine.

Primary otalgia

Ear pain can be caused by disease in the external, middle, or inner ear, but the three are indistinguishable in terms of the pain experienced.

External ear pain may be:

• Mechanical: trauma, foreign bodies such as hairs, insects or cotton buds.
• Infective (otitis externa): Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Candida, herpes zoster, or viral Myringitis. (See Otitis externa)

Middle ear pain may be:

• Mechanical: barotrauma (often iatrogenic), Eustachian tube obstruction leading to acute otitis media.
• Inflammatory / infective: acute otitis media, mastoiditis.

Secondary (referred) otalgia

The neuroanatomic basis of referred otalgia rests within one of five general neural pathways ^[1] The general ear region is sensorily innervated via four cranial nerves and two spinal segments. Hence, pathology in other "non-ear" parts of the body innervated by these neural pathways may "refer" pain to the ear. These general pathways are:

• Via Trigeminal nerve [cranial nerve V]. Rarely, trigeminal neuralgia can cause otalgia. Oral cavity carcinoma can also cause referred ear pain via this pathway.
• Via Facial nerve [cranial nerve VII]. This can come from the teeth (most commonly the upper molars, when it will be worse when drinking cold fluids), the temporomandibular joint (due to its close relation to the ear canal), or the parotid gland.
• Via Glossopharyngeal nerve [cranial nerve IX]. This comes from the oropharynx, and can be due to pharyngitis or tonsillitis, or to carcinoma of the oropharynx (base of tongue, soft palate, pharyngeal wall, tonsils).
• Via Vagus nerve [cranial nerve X]. This can arise from the laryngopharynx in carcinoma of the this area, or from the esophagus in GERD.
• Via the second and third spinal segments, C2 and C3.

In an adult with chronic ear pain, yet a normal ear on exam, the diagnosis is carcinoma of the head and neck region until proven otherwise. Yet some patients will have a "psychogenic otalgia," and no cause as to the pain in ears can be found (suggesting a psychosomatic origin). The patient in such cases should be kept under observation with periodic re-evaluation.

Diagnosis

It is normally possible to establish the cause of ear pain based on the history. It is important to exclude cancer where appropriate, particularly with unilateral otalgia in an adult who uses tobacco or alcohol.^[2] Often migraines are caused by middle ear infections which can easily be treated with antibiotics. Often using a hot washcloth can temporarily relieve ear pain.

Children

It's not unusual for an ear infection to develop in early childhood. Although they're not contagious, ear infections can occur as side effects of contagious illnesses—colds, coughs, or eye ailments like pinkeye.^[3]

See also

• Earwax

References

External links

• What to do if your child has earache from Seattle Children's Hospital