Severe ear pain caused when I lay down at night.

Unfortunately my ear image address and the part to be massaged are omitted.i request the kind board admin to show them, so my statements become clear. The image shows the middle ear cartilage and the circle shows the cartilage to be massaged, only massage this cartilage with your thumb gently for five seconds and then stop.
This is the image. (http://www.4shared.com/photo/G_kQAHUP/middleCartilage.html)

HAZAH!!! Thrilled to hear from all you nighttime outer ear pain people. I think I found the answer but only after being inspired by so many with similar problems. I beleive mine to be an inflamation of the cartilage possibly "relapsing Polychondritis". The specific disease is not so important. There are so many inflamitory related diseases these days. There is a diet protacol that can fix the pain but it can take months and is challanging. Sugar/Alchohol, cow dairy and gluten will cause inflamation. Everyone is diffferent and some people can tolerate more of some foods than others. The best way to tell is to eat very clean for two weeks with none of the above food then slowly bring back some foods you would like to have and wait 3 days. Watch your energy and several pounds of weight gain due to inflamation and water retention.  It is very helpful to keep a journal.  I actually self diagnosed with Rhuematoid disease, got confirmation from a rhuematologist and fixed it with diet and exercise. When I stick very close to the diet for autoimmune I do not have the outer ear pain but in my case I tend to go overboard when I go off the diet and exercise. It is a slippery slope

Beware of cortisone recommendations. This can lead to very severe inbalnces in your body.

I've had this problem for many years (probably 10 years or more) and the doctors have no idea what causes the ear cartilidge pain.  Some nights are worse than others.  It's rare that I have zero pain.   I did find a couple of years ago that my B12 levels were extremely low, which was discovered when I went to the doctor for numbness in my legs and feet. It's called pernsious enemia (spelling?) I wonder if many years of low B12 has damaged the nerves in my outer ear.  I occasionaly feel numbness in the back of my head, but not really pain, just uncomrtable at times, but tolerable.  Low B12, is the only explanation I can come up with.   Have yours checked, it can't hurt.

Hello i too suffer from this it started 1 year after working in Bt and I blamed it on my work because i wore a headset . I now have it on and off for the past 20 years. I to only get it when I lie on my ear I would describe the pain as excruciating at times I am tempted to go to A & E with it. I have been to ENT and they think it is TMJ dysfunction. I wonder if wearing a ear piece would have caused this.

I have the same issue in my right ear. I'll wake up with a horrible pain in my ear canal from the pressure of the pillow and my head. As I lift my head off the pain becomes much worse... I read a post a year ago that said that it may be caused from excessive drinking. If you area heavy drinker and read this...try stopping for a couple months and see if it goes away...

I have been having this same issue. I recently went to the Dr. This is what he told me could be the diagnosis still getting more test but he said that it was TMJ
Maybe this will help!
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction is a general term for a group of conditions that affect the temporomandibular joint. The TMJs are small joints that connect the lower jaw (mandible) to the temporal bone of the skull. TMJ dysfunction is characterized by pain of the jaw joint that is made worse during or after eating or yawning. It can cause limited jaw movement and clicks and pops during chewing. In severe cases, pain can radiate into the neck, shoulders and back

I am so glad I'm not the only one who gets this horrible pain in my ears at night. I've been getting it for about 4 years (maybe more) and it drives me insane. Basically I'll wake up and lift my head and get a searing pain in my ear. I'll turn over and get it in the other ear too. I find it difficult sleeping on my back so I always sleep on my side. I tried new pillows and they worked for a night or two then the pain returned. However when I was staying in a hotel recently I didn't get any. I've been to see my doctor twice but they couldn't see anything wrong just saying it could be sensitive nerves in my cartlidge. I thought it might even be due to the cold weather as they have been sore constantly since the start of the winter. It's sort of like a burning sensation. It's quite hard to explain. I've even tried taking out my earrings but that didn't help either.

As someone said it must be something since so many of us poor people seem to suffer from it. it sounds like it's more common than I thought too.

Did these remedies end your ear pain?

Cool, I have had this for a few years too.  Really great to find this thread. It's the flat area of the ear just outside the opening of the ear canal. I just looked this up and apparently it's called the concha.

It's not TMJ. I had that many years ago and it is much worse, I think caused by grinding or clenching the teeth at night. Then the shocking and awful pain is triggered by clenching the teeth or biting a certain way during the day.  A bite block solved my problem rather quickly, though the insurance was a pain to deal with back then.

What is weird about my experience is that, I will wake up at night with the burning annoying pain almost everyone is describing - although I will say it is not "severe" - and then lift my head for relief.  But the slightest touch back down to the pillow brings the pain out immediately.  It makes no sense. It kind of behaves like a bruise in that sense, but of course there is no bruise at all.

It does work to sleep on two pillows separated by enough space to allow your ear to lie suspended, touching nothing.  But you have to always have enough room to do that, and if you shift during the night, you have to rearrange the pillows again and get comfortable enough to fall asleep, etc.

I'm going to look for a good donut pillow. It will have to be pretty plush so that my ear doesn't touch anything. For a while, I think I was using one of those donut pillows that people use for sitting after a tailbone or related injury.  Those sort of work, but they are not thick enough and your ear ends up touching or rubbing some surface. It's just mindblowing how sensitive your ear can be to the slightest touch when you have this pain.  As I write this, I can still feel the burning sensation subsiding from this morning - it's been over 5 hours.

Good luck, everyone!

I've had this problem for two years now.  It does wake me up at night when I turn over.  I went to the doctor and he gave me antibiotics, ear drops and a nasal spray.  No result.  I went back and he then gave me bacterial antibiotic pills and ear drops with steroids in hit.  No results again.  He now says to go to an ear specialist.  

After reading all the posts, I guess I'll just live with it And buy a pillow with a hole in it.

For years I have had ear pain at night as described by many of you. For a couple of months now I've been using this pillow

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 I have no more ear pain. The pillow takes a little getting used to in terms of adjusting it periodically throughout the night but in addition to having no more ear pain, the pillow is remarkably supportive for head, neck and shoulders. Really comfortable.

I just started having this ear cartilage pain when I sleep on my right side.  I have done two things to alleviate the immediate pain.  Putting pressure on the Pinna, the top part of the outer ear stops the pain, but it still aches.  I almost think it helps because I could be pushing my cartilage back against my head.  Another thing that seems to help is arching my head back while I sleep on my side.  A message therapist suggested I go to a chiropractor to align my ears.  I haven't really checked into that, but it sounds like something that is plausible.

 

 

 

My theory for this is dehydration.  Mine don't hurt every night, but when it does, it is whichever ear I sleep on.  I have noticed a pattern.  When I don't drink my 8 glasses of water a day, but have little water and more caffeine than I should, the cartilage around my ears hurt at night after lying on that side.  The pain is intense and it wakes me up and it is very bothersome. 

How did your pillow work? I want to order one...but wanted to hear from your first.

It's called CNH - Chondrodermatitis Nodularis Helicis. It's caused by sleeping on one side too much or in the case of you who have in both - perhaps you're just sensitive to it. You need to purchase a CNH pillow. It's a pillow with a hole for your ear. Look them up online; there are a couple of places that sell them. Not cheap, but when I got it, my ear pain completely cleared up.