Ear Pain

[Bsquared1967]

Not sure if this is the proper thread.....but here it goes. Diagnosed in January of this year, started Triumeq at the end of February. Over the last week or so I've developed ear pain, guess it would be the ear canal. Usually hit the q-tips after I get out of the shower is how I found out. Doesn't hurt in general, but let me touch the right spot with a q-tip and the pain is pretty severe. It also has stopped in one ear, but started up in the other. Went and had blood drawn for my first labs after starting meds last week and will have a followup this coming Thursday. Just concerned if I should call or wait till my visit. Found it's better to ask here than to Google anything. Too Scary on google and much misinformation. Anyone else had this happen? Thanks for the help.
Brad

[zach]

stop sticking things in your ear canal

[Bsquared1967]

Thanks for the reply, pointless as it was. Been using qtips for 35+/years and have never had this problem. To be more specific, it's just before the canal, but not in the outer ear. Guess I' ll just wait and speak to my doctor about it. Read something about HIV and possible infections/problems with the ear. Posted in the wrong spot I guess.

[zach]

not for nothing, that's probably going to be the first thing an ENT tells you

not trying to be a dick, just saying that the warning is pretty common these days

google up "qtips in ears" and you'll get pages of hits

[Bsquared1967]

Understand the warnings on qtips. The link is what prompted my question.

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-04-01-13

[CaveyUK]

Understand the warnings on qtips. The link is what prompted my question.

http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-04-01-13

quit reading stuff written in 1998

[tednlou2]

I get ear pain, especially in left ear.  If I push in on it, it hurts.  Or, laying on a pillow on that ear.  Otherwise, it doesn't bother me.  There was a brief time, when I just had to touch the side of my face and it would hurt.  There are those submandibular saliva glands that run by the ears.  I have wondered whether that is what's causing it, for me.  It seems I've read people with HIV can have issues with those saliva glands, but your issue may be something different. 

[Bsquared1967]

Going to the doctor on Thursday to get the results of my first labs on meds. Will speak to her about it and post here what she says. Thanks for the productive feedback. Getting a little uncomfortable on the pillow, otherwise doesn't bother me much either.

[whizzer]

I get ear pain, especially in left ear.  If I push in on it, it hurts.  Or, laying on a pillow on that ear.  Otherwise, it doesn't bother me.  There was a brief time, when I just had to touch the side of my face and it would hurt.  There are those submandibular saliva glands that run by the ears.  I have wondered whether that is what's causing it, for me.  It seems I've read people with HIV can have issues with those saliva glands, but your issue may be something different.

Submandibular salivary glands are located under the tongue, below the mandible, hence submandibular.  You are probably thinking of the parotid gland, a large salivary gland located anterior to the ear.  While the parotid gland can have problems, usually blockages and sometimes tumors, it is not common for them to be painful.

There are, however, a couple of clusters of lymph nodes in that area; the superficial parotid nodes and the anterior auricular nodes that can become swollen and cause pain.  It is likely your pain stems from those nodes.  They can even remain tender and palpable long after any infection has passed; persistent painful lymph nodes, while uncommon, are not unheard of.

[tednlou2]

Submandibular salivary glands are located under the tongue, below the mandible, hence submandibular.  You are probably thinking of the parotid gland, a large salivary gland located anterior to the ear.  While the parotid gland can have problems, usually blockages and sometimes tumors, it is not common for them to be painful.

There are, however, a couple of clusters of lymph nodes in that area; the superficial parotid nodes and the anterior auricular nodes that can become swollen and cause pain.  It is likely your pain stems from those nodes.  They can even remain tender and palpable long after any infection has passed; persistent painful lymph nodes, while uncommon, are not unheard of.

Yes, the parotid glands is what I meant.  And I point it out as one thing to bring up with doc, to see if he or she thinks that could be an issue.  Of course, very well may be something totally different. 

[Bsquared1967]

Thanks, Did a little research after you mentioned the glands, figured out which ones you meant and made some notes to ask Doc about. New to all of this and it seems as if around every corner, there's just one more thing....Really shouldn't be worried I suppose. My numbers at diagnosis were great and I hope to be UD on Thursday. Any place to get reliable, recent information? Poz Magazine I imagine is a good start?  AIDS.gov, CDC website? Thanks again for the info.

[CaveyUK]

Thanks, Did a little research after you mentioned the glands, figured out which ones you meant and made some notes to ask Doc about. New to all of this and it seems as if around every corner, there's just one more thing....Really shouldn't be worried I suppose. My numbers at diagnosis were great and I hope to be UD on Thursday. Any place to get reliable, recent information? Poz Magazine I imagine is a good start?  AIDS.gov, CDC website? Thanks again for the info.

I always recommend sticking to the 'trusted' sites such as Poz, Dr Gallants tumblr site and in the UK there is a site called 'I-Base HIV' which distils everything down to simple language which I find pretty helpful. I would basically avoid anything written more than 2-3 years ago as it may be out of date - a lot of earlier articles talked about issues with HIV but predominantly referenced uncontrolled HIV (ie pre treatment or before starting treatment), and what kind of marker these conditions were for disease progression. Unfortunately the language used did not always make that clear.

I'm not saying that we are not more likely to get some conditions, or that any one condition is or isn't HIV related, but trying to self-diagnose by looking at one of these laundry-list-of-ailments articles is a path to unnecessary anxiety. I know, I've been there and STILL have to stop myself doing it.

I have a strange clicking sensation in the back of my head when I walk, which wasn't there before I started meds. I will mention it next time I'm at the clinic but you better believe that I am trying desperately not to google it too much as I am *sure* I'd find something sounding vaguely similar linked to all manner of horrific conditions

In the first few months of treatment, it's always best running everything past your doc/clinic just in case. I've mentioned a number of things and mostly I get a shrug 'well that will just pass'/'i wouldn't worry about that'/'thats normal' response. On one occasion (swollen node back of head, lump on scalp) they took it to their triage session, but before I knew it the problem had resolved on it's own. Always better to be safe than sorry, but try to resist your google instincts if you can

[Bsquared1967]

Yes cavey, you were right. Nothing to worry about. The issue actually resolved itself about 3 days prior to my visit. She checked my ears, showed me exactly where the lymph bundle and  the salivary glands were. Just said if it does arise again, try to get in so she could look while the issue was present. Don't really care about that anymore though, riding high on results from first 30 days on Triumeq.