I get it too, only on the right side, and it really hurts. My ear gets hot and flushed too. I think it’s TMJ pain.
Just have to give you a follow-up on my post about a day ago. The ear pain did leave before I went to bed; however, before arising this morning I got a steady heavy ache in that ear. Sleepily I tried the
web pressure, the pain left, and I went back to sleep. Today there has not been one sign of it, thankfully. (the ache was not inside the ear, but on the surface as before)
I have a feeling that this was so prolonged because in AZ we are having a lot of humidity this time of year, which affects my arthritis adversely. Perhaps it affects ear cartilage also, if there is some irregularity in that area.
There is a painful condition that can develop on the cartilage of the ear- for the life of me I can’t recall the name of it. But it’s benign and mostly comes from sleeping on that side. There are special pillows you can buy for it, with a hole in the middle for the ear to fit into so you’re not putting pressure on it.
OMG just found this web site by googling and can’t believe I am not alone. Woke up here in snowy London in agony yet again from sleeping on my side. The pain in the cartilage is often so excruciating it wakes me several times a night. I have tried the ear massage trick and even though it hurts more initially, it DOES make the pain stop. We need to come up with a great name to describe this so we can convince the medical profession it is real. Don’t think there is a cure- love the sound of the pillow with the hole to relieve pressure- feel a business idea coming on! Jools
I did remember the name of it shortly after this post.
It’s CNHC, for short. Weird that your dermatologist wouldn’t know about it, LouisB. It’s very common in older men.
Well, I have a history of skin cancers; I get them cut off like a lot of people get haircuts. I asked specifically if the condition was caused by skin cancer and his puzzled look might have been in response to his internal question of “why the hell would he think that?” And, who knows, since I am an older man, my memory of the occasion might well be faulty. That’s not intended to be snarky; my memory is taking a hell of a beating in these declining years.
Alice, thank you so much for that web link- surprise, surprise- I was actually diagnosed with CNHC 4 years ago when I went to my doctor with a small crust on my right ear cartilage and thought it was skin cancer. A specialist dermatologist diagnosed CNHC and said there was nothing I could do about it. I never equated the crust with the severe pain I get in both ears and which I know happens due to the pressure of lying on the cartilage. I now need to find the wonderful cushion with a hole in it to relieve the pressure. I will post any links I find. Thanks to all for the Info. happy New year to all. Jools
First time responder but I need to add my symptoms. I believe my pain comes originally from my glasses. The pressure of the fine wire ear piece. If not, it is because of that pressure that I feel the pain. Bouts come on an irregular basis and not related to sleep. stress or activity. Touching cartelage behind the ear, under, near jaw, really hurts. Doesn’t matter if a light touch or hard, the pain is the same. It can be constant or intermittent and jabbing pain during bout. Massage really hurts but does help eliminate the pain. I have used ice and heat, and the latter works best but the weight of the pad even hurts. Now I have a new solution-- Squeezing the web between the thumb and first finger of the hand with the pain. I noticed pain lessening immediately, though not gone. Fortunately this pain my infrequent but really bad when it comes. Thanks for the acupuncture suggestion and for making me feel more normal. My internest didn’t seem to have a clue!
Its is comforting to know that I am not losing my mind, I have the same pain in the cartilage and the doctors think I am crazy, mine does not happen at night or in the morning though, mine seem to happen when I am active ie: dancing, when I used to go clubbing I would get this severe pain and then I would have to move my ear around ( which hurt like hell) and wait for a small click! Then it would release the pain for the time being. As I get older it seems to be happening more often, now my 7 year old daughter is showing the same symptoms, I do not want her to have this pain all her life, she gets in quite frequently and again doctors don’t seem to understand what she is talking about. Has anyone ever heard of this being hereditary? We both have a few symptoms of TMD/TMJ but as a child I was told that they really coudn’t fint her for a splint due to her losing and growing adult teeth, it is soooo frustrating, I am glad to know that we are not the only ones.
Julzspassion, I have also been experiencing a terrible ear cartilage pain. It has gotten increasingly worse in the past year. I have recently been diagnosed with chronic iritis and will be seeing a rheumatologist for the first time next week. It seems that there is many things that can cause the pain that we are all experiencing. For me, it never seems to happen after sleeping, always mid day to evening. And it always disappears before I go to sleep . I have four children and 2 of them complain of similar and very mild problem but with very little pain. Surprisingly, I talked to my father last night and it had happened to him yesterday for the first time. I am pretty sure that it is an inflammation disorder like polychondritis. My I am 37 and have been getting it for at least a few years but it has progressively been getting worse and much more frequent,like at least twice a week. My father is 58 and it just started. My children are 14 and 18 who are feeling similar problems. I am interested in speaking with the rheumy and I will keep everyone posted. I hate to see that others are feeling the horrible pain that I am but maybe we can all figure it out together.
I have been dealing with external ear pain for several years now and it is almost 24/7. Pain seems to come from the crease and go up into the pinna. I have tried not wearing my glasses for 6 weeks, accupuncture, night guard, antidepressants, oral cortisone. Cortisone injections give me relief for a month, but the pain comes back. Salonpas patches cut into tiny squares and applied to the back of my ear helps the most, but I have to apply a new one every morning as a preventative. I’m quite proud of coming up with that one! If I wait to apply the patch after the pain starts, it won’t work. They have an ingredient like aspirin. Recently got two holes cut into my latex pillow to try to help at night. my ENT is willing to refer me to a rheumatologist, which I may do. He also wants me to consider letting him excise tissue from the crease of my ear. I’ll try the accupressure technique described above after this cortisone shot wears off. It’s good to find some people with similar problems, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone!
I was always under the impression that any cartilage problem such as ear lobes and nose was caused by excess uric acid in the blood and when it inflames the cartilage of the toes it is called gout.
Try Googling it.
The most powerful zombie thead of them all! The sextuple respawning zombie! I swear the seventh time will be the end of the world and we’ll all know because our ears will hurt…
Thanks for the tip on gout. I don’t seem to have any of the risk factors, but I will follow up on it.
Not sure about zombie comment. Did I commit a breach of etiquette?
Yes, this is the conclusion I came to also.
Medical advice is best suited to IMHO.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I was really glad, and rather surprised too, to find the comments here about this weird pain.
I’ve experienced a similar pain over the last five years. It first happened suddenly, during the day, and lasted about ten minutes - with extreme tenderness and pain around the outside of the left ear and front cartilage area. Couldn’t bear to touch it, but just waited it out. Over the first year it happened only 2 or 3 times and continued like that for about 4 years. Then it started lasting longer, a half hour or so, so I took 2 aspirin, and that took care of it. It still happened only three or four times a year.
A little over a year ago it struck again. The pain and tenderness was intense. i was out in public and so I tried to just keep going and tough it out. I was ready to give it up and cry “Uncle” when it suddenly stopped! Seemed like I moved something in my neck, jaw or ear area and something released. The relief was immediate.
I mentioned it to my PCP. She sent me to a TMJ specialtst. They took xrays, etc, etc. and said there was arthritic deterioration in the TMJ causing the disk to slip and impinge on a nerve (though the pain is atypical and very intermittent). Insurnace covered the big bucks for upper and lower applicances (mouth splints).
Tried wearing the splints as explained by the TMJ specialist.
Though they were modified several times, They were extremely uncomfortable. My shoulder and neck muscles tightened up, couldn’t sleep, and once when I tried to insert the lower one, the outer ear pain started again. I took it out and the pain stopped. So - no more splints! Better to experience the pain once in awhile rather than the continuing discomfort from the splints.
My dentists are not sure what is going on either. One says it is muscular spasm, another says it may just be arthritis. The don’t believe it’s TMJ related since it is so intermittent. But now the pain is more frequent. I’ve tried the message technique, and IT DOES WORK! I have to catch it just as the pain starts and then I can “short circuit” the pain within about 5 minutes. Hurts like H while I’m messaging it though.
I have noticed over the past several months that the muscles on the left side leading from the lower neck and ear to the sternum and the clavicle (the sternocleidomastoid muscle) can be very tender and this can be an indicator of the impending ear cartilage pain. Maybe it has always been this way and caused the original pain - or - is this ear pain referred from the muscle or the TMJ??
So - is it really TMD or is it tightness (spasm) in the muscle or . . . . ?
Another possibility is to contact an orofacial pain specialist trained in atypical ear pain.
I’m also going to try the Salonpas pain relief patches. And so it goes -
I am so glad I found this forum. Thought I was losing my mind trying to explain the ear pain I feel on the outside of my ear when I wake up. Sometimes worse than others but always upon awakening. Feels so bad sometimes it wakes me up. It has been happening for a few years now off and on but frustrating. 
When a thread that is old is resurrected, we call it a Zombie Thread (raised from the dead, you know). It’s not a breach of etiquette, but people usually comment on it and make zombie jokes.
Just saw these posts that are a few years old now, and I don’t want to get technical, but have you googles ‘Chondrodermatitis nodularis chronica helicis - a conservative therapeutic approach by decompression.’