What Causes Severely Painful Popping Sound In Left Ear While Swallowing Food?

Sure, I had a cold coming on but it never got too bad but while swallowing some food during the symptoms stage I literally felt and in my inner ear heard a pop in the left side of my throat. Every swallow for the rest of that day was extremely painful. The pain is pretty much gone now but still slight discomfort is present when swallowing especially early in the day. The pop happened two wks ago and I just thought it would have healed by now. I'm a performing musician also so I've been singing too but it's only bothered me once while singing in these two weeks. Just wondering what the problem is. Thank you.