There are thousands of reasons for the relationship between earache and headache. Sometimes the source is a disease of the organ of hearing, in other cases, serious pathologies are to blame, which require urgent intervention. In any case, the manifestation of cephalalgia cannot go unnoticed.
In medicine, there are many pathologies in which the head hurts behind the ears simultaneously with other parts of the skull. These may be completely unrelated diseases. It is very important to observe the systematic nature of the pains, as well as their specific localization, sensations when pressed, the relationship with the weather or with any other external stimuli.
Etiology of the phenomenon
Intoxication of the body can occur both with external damage or inflammation, and with internal formations. Pain sensations sometimes change their location. The head may hurt behind the ear, or the pain is localized above the organ of hearing itself. In addition, the pain syndrome can have an increasing or decreasing character, which is also important for diagnosis.
A different kind of diseases and accompanying pains are interconnected with pathological tissue damage. A striking example of this is a purulent formation. A similar focus is localized directly in the ear, but pain is given to the head. In such cases, it is necessary to find the source of pain, since the rupture of the purulent sac threatens to infect the blood. The pain in the head is sharp and throbbing, and it can also increase depending on the position of the body.
Common diseases
Specialists distinguish a number of the most common diseases, the symptoms of which are very similar:
- Osteochondrosis is a violation of the supply of oxygen to muscle and brain tissues.
- Meningitis is an inflammatory process in the tissues of the brain
- Pathologies of various kinds on the cervical vertebrae - scoliosis, tumors, hernias, arthritis and myositis.
- Disturbances in the vascular system associated with changes in blood pressure.
- Otitis media is an inflammatory process in the middle or inner ear.
- Myogelosis - seals in muscle tissues that disrupt blood supply.
- Cervical myositis - characterized by inflammation of the muscles of the back of the head and cervical region.
- Mastoiditis is an inflammatory process of the mastoid process, located directly behind the ear.
Trigeminal inflammation
This is one of the few diseases in which pain does not have a specific localization, but covers most of the face. For example, a patient may complain thathis eyes, head and ears hurt. This is due to inflammation of the muscle endings, and those, in turn, cover certain organs. An important point is the exclusion of a probable eye disease, although for this it is enough just to recognize pain that is not fixed specifically on the eyes.
Doctors divide the symptoms into several groups, according to which they diagnose the disease:
- Pain in the eye muscle without inflammation of the eye itself.
- Pulsating pain covering cheek, forehead, chin, eye and ear.
- No tumor or fever.
Neuralgia can be caused by any infectious disease or injury. Chronic otitis media can also lead to pain behind the ear.
Pain in head and ear
Professionals deal with complaints from patients of various kinds. So, for example, the patient may say that he has a headache and part of his ear. Sometimes these symptoms are pulsating or pressing. International statistics have already identified a number of diseases with similar symptoms:
- Infectious diseases. The infection enters the body through the respiratory tract, and can also progress in the oral cavity.
- Migraine. The patient has weakness and irritability, moreover, he has a headache behind the ears, above the ears, discomfort covers a certain side of the face and radiates to the eyes.
- Cluster pains. In medicine, they were identified quite recently, which means that they have been studied far to this day.not completely. Most medicines do not work, but the patient gets better when they are in a quiet, calm environment.
- Osteochondrosis. In addition to the fact that the patient says that he has a headache in the ear area and part of the face, pain also covers the occipital part and the cervical vertebrae.
Cephalgia pressing on the ears
Quite often, specialists hear from patients that they have a headache and pressure on their ears. Typically, such pain is accompanied by tinnitus, nausea and dizziness. The reason for this is usually congestion in the ear. It is not worth panicking when such symptoms are detected, since diseases characterized in this way are rarely serious and often disappear after taking painkillers. However, in the initial stages, it is very important to correctly diagnose pathologies.
In addition to all the above symptoms, which doctors pay special attention to, other manifestations of serious illnesses may fall into this category:
- Disorders in the cardiovascular system.
- Variations in blood pressure.
- Microstrokes.
Pain over the organ of hearing
Another equally common complaint is pain in a specific area of the head. At the reception, doctors quite often hear that the patient has a headache above the ear. Usually, patients ignore such pain for a long time, but with its frequent occurrence, they are forced to seek help.
Pain above the ear is felt in certain neurological pathologies:
- Pulsating pain that affects the auditory and visual organs, indicates a running migraine.
- When a boil appears on the auricle, the pain spreads along the sides of the skull, mainly behind or above the ear.
- When otitis media, the pain is throbbing, there is a feeling of inflammation in the ear area.
- In case of disorders in the temporomandibular joint, pain spreads along the jaw and radiates to the ear and eye zones.
Pain behind the ear
If a patient complains that he has a headache behind the ear, then we can safely talk about the disease of the auditory organ itself. Most of these ailments threaten hearing loss, and if the disease is infectious in nature and manifests itself as inflammation, then it is also dangerous to rupture the formation itself.
The most common disease with these symptoms is mastoiditis, with the lesion manifesting itself on the mastoid process, which is located directly behind the ear. The structure of the ear predisposes to the rapid accumulation of pus. The pain is felt constantly, but it intensifies when pressed. The danger of this disease is the rupture of the tumor tissue, while pus will begin to flow out of the ear. This can inflame the auditory labyrinth. Moreover, similar symptoms are observed at the initial stage of development of meningitis or brain abscess. Therefore, if such a formation is found, you should immediately contact a specialist.
Sometimes the disease manifests itself exclusively behind one ear. For example, a patient may complain that he has a headache behind his left ear. This symptom is taken into account by a specialist, after which one of the probable diseases is diagnosed:
- Labyrinthitis is an inflammation of the labyrinth behind the middle ear.
- Neuritis of the nerve of the auditory organ - a disease manifests itself when an infection enters the labyrinth.
- Minière's disease - a pathogenic infection enters the labyrinth behind the middle ear, with an increase in endolithm.
- Otomycosis - with this disease, a fungal infection spreads.
- Mastoiditis with characteristic boil formation.
Predisposing factors
The impetus for the development of such diseases and symptoms can even be a person's lifestyle. Certain parts of the spinal column hurt when you stay in one position for a long time. Pain can be felt not only in the spinal muscles, but also in the head and ears.
There are certain factors that provoke these diseases:
- When climate conditions change, people often complain that their head hurts behind their ears.
- Pain in the eyes is felt with long-term use of modern devices, or rather gadgets.
- Strain of ligaments and muscles.
- Pathologies associated with disorders in the spinal system.
- Heart attacks, strokes.
- Stress.
No matter how trite it may sound, however, evenfood can cause a person to have a headache behind their ears. For example, an excess of glutamate monosodium causes pain behind the ears, in the temporal part, in the eyes, etc.
Some foods that cause headaches:
- preservatives;
- spices, sauces, seasonings;
- row of potato dishes;
- nuts and their kernels (especially roasted);
- smoked fish, bacon and others.
Ways to fight
First of all, the patient needs to normalize the immune system. For this, many even perfectly he althy people use well-known vitamins. The next criterion is a he althy lifestyle, each patient and he althy person should engage in physiotherapy exercises. It doesn't take long, but it is a really effective way to prevent headaches.
At home, special infusions are widely applicable that eliminate pain in the ears, eyes and head. However, experts strongly recommend that you consult a doctor, as similar symptoms are inherent in various diseases, sometimes life-threatening. The neglected state of the disease is much more difficult to treat.
