Pain In Helix Of Ear, Bone Pain Behind Ear. Cause?

Posted on Fri, 24 May 2013

Question: Hello, the Helix of my RIGHT ear has been hurting along with the bone/muscle directly behind that ear.

The EXTERNAL part of the bone/muscle hurts and is a sharp pain that occurs every 30-60 seconds. I can apply pressure to the area and it hurts

The pain started a week ago and after taking Advil and applying icy hot, it went away. Pain reappeared today.

I have not had any accidents or anything like that.

Answered by Dr. Jorge Brenes-Salazar (36 minutes later)

Dear patient,

Thanks for your health concerns. With such localized symptoms in the bone behind the ear(called the mastoid process) along with the soft tissues surrounding the area one of the key things that need to be ruled out is an infectious process (for example mastoiditis); since the symptoms recurred despite conservative basic management, I would advise you to visit a health care providerwho can perform a focused physical examination and determine if other medications and tests are needed

Hope this is useful wish you the best health,

Dr Brenes Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic Rochester

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Mohammed Kappan