I spent over an hour reading all of the replies on this thread hoping to find a suggestion for relief that I hadn't already tried.
Having had this pain every night for over a year, I had tried *everything*--foam pillows, donut pillows, neck pillows ear massaging, etc. I even cut a hole in my memory foam pillow to place my ear in (I have the pain on both sides, so I'd have to switch during the night when I turned in my sleep and situate my other ear in the hole). None of these methods worked.
Someone here said that they tried putting earplugs in, and it worked for them. That was something I hadn't tried. Though, I thought; 'The pain is on the outside of my ears, how would putting earplugs in my ears do anything for the *outside* of my ears?'
With nothing to lose and desperate for relief, I tried the earplugs.
Since I didn't have any in the house and it was late when I was reading this board, I made two 'plugs' out of a cotton ball. I tore pieces from the ball to form two marble-sized plugs, put a little oil on each to keep the little cotton fibers from sticking to the inside of my ears (I used organic almond oil).
Long story even longer (haha), IT WORKED!! I don't know *how* it works (who CARES?!) but it WORKED!! I've done this every night for the past week and NO OUTER EAR PAIN!
After reading all the posts here that night, I promised myself that if I ever found anything that ended up working, I would return to the site to post it, so that others could finally be relieved, too.
Give it a try! Hope it works as well for you as it has for me.
LIKE EVERYONE ON THIS FEED I HAVE HAD THE SAME PROBLEM. i have been to multiple doctors of ALL sorts and they suggest the same thing (a pillow with a hole, Advil every night before you go to sleep, don't sleep on that side etc) awful advice!! And I've gotten so frustrated that i could cry. i just wanted to let all of you know, that YOU ARE NOT ALONE and when i find a doctor willing to help that finds an answer, I WILL LET YOU KNOW. (here on this feed).
Oh my God i never thought of this.. thank you so much for returning to help us! I can't wait to try this is something different!
Hi, i also suffer from excruciating pain in my ear lobe and behind my ear when it starts its as if my ear is being stretched the pain gets so bad that I can't touch any part of the ear, it even hurts when i close my mouth, then as soon as the pain reaches its peak it goes, this pain can come on during the day so I can't put it down to the way I sleep. I'm not sure what it is but I can only describe it as cramp.
I do exactly the same as you said above and I have the similar problem it disturbs my sleep and the side becomes hot if I stay too long on one side. what is the remedy ? please help. I have been to several doctors, nothing happened.
thank you dear, my problem is similar to yours, I will try the ear as you said, hope it works. thank you ..
If you have a 11 year old girl who has the same semtoms ,when she lays on one ear and then in the morning the other ear hurts
She said both ears hurts so bad it effects her sleep she won't sleep intell 7:00 and she crys and crys
She said both ears hurts so bad it effects her sleep she won't sleep intell 7:00 and she crys and crys
I'm just going to throw this out there... I started having this ear pain several months ago, and I started looking for causes. I've tried everything I've seen to alleviate the pain, but was only successful at the expense of getting a decent night's sleep. I was relieved to see I wasn't the only one because I thought it was very strange. I don't know if my "cure" is coincidental, psychosomatic, or real, but I haven't had any pain for over a week now. I stumbled upon it because I was getting bitten by mosquitoes suddenly. I've been taking a Vitamin B Complex "Stress Formula" for years, and the mosquitoes don't normally bother me because of whatever B it is that makes my skin less inviting. I decided to up my dose from one pill per day to two pills per day to see if they would leave me alone again. Well, it worked for the mosquitoes, and seemingly as a side effect of taking more, my ears totally stopped hurting. I really hope that is the reason and that this post might help others suffering from the ear pain when sleeping. I really would love some feedback if anyone tries it and it helps them too.
I stumbled upon a fix when I doubled my dose of B Complex vitamins. I did it because the mosquitoes were biting again, but it also stopped my ears from hurting when I lay on them. Better than earplugs for me.
I don't have account, so I can only reply this. I was bothered by the same problem for 2 years. Two days ago, I tried to use different pillows. I went to Walmart and bought a new pillow. It's much taller than my old pillow, and very soft, and it stopped the ear pain. At the beginning I was not used to it, and two days after, I'm ok with the height of the pillow, and it helps with the ear pain. Because it's so high, my ear cannot touch hard surface. You can give it a try. It's BeautyRest, firm/extra firm. Around 20 bucks. Good thing is that if it doesn't help, you can return it. I hope it works for you as it does for me. Any questions, you can let me know.
oMG me too! I've had cat scans and MRI's and they see nothing, Which is wonderful! But the pain is so bad that you can't explain. I'm sure my husband thinks I'm crazy, but the pain is awful! I woke up 3 times last night with this issue and was determined to find and answer this morning. Feels better to know that its other people's problem as well. One doctor of mine suggested that it could be a nerve issue and gave me Lyrica. The Lyrica did help a few other issues but not this. He said it may take a different medication but wanted to start with that one. I haven't been back to try the next one because I really don't like to take that sort of thing. Thanks!
The exact same thing happens to me when i sleep on my side. It's like when air blocks my ear it starts hurting like crazy. It use to be only the left side, now it's both. Since I'm pregnant I can only sleep on my side. I'm going to try one of those travel pillows for your neck so my ear could get air... see if that works.
Did you have any ringing in the ears or hearing loss along with the pain?
So what is the final verdict for everyone that can't see on their ears because of cartilage pain?? No doctors even understand what I'm saying.
Yes this is what I did for a while and it works. Now I have a pillow that I cut and pulled the cotton out of the center and sewed it and this works as well. I went to the doc because I also get a temporary partial hearing loss it that same ear when I do more intense workouts. He said to take 24 hr Allegra d which has two active ingredients that reduce congestion. I've been taking the pills for almost a month now and still no results. I'm going to get a second opinion soon.