Hart Nat Hentoff David Horowitz Arianna Huffington Marianne Jennings Michael Kelly Mort Kondracke Ch. None of my doctors can find a cause. My primary care doc suggests stress. A neurologist thought I had facial neuralgia and would need surgery to cut the nerve. Advil helps for a few hours.
Chronic pain is one of the most fearsome problems in medical practice.
Not only is it challenging to diagnose, it's often difficult to treat. This information is important because it suggests that your pain originates in the nerves around the ear. This observation is strengthened by your comments that the pain is worsened by exposure to drafts of cold air. Thus, I am inclined to agree with the diagnosis of facial neuralgia. Although you could not tolerate the medicine because it caused exhaustion, a common side effect, this complication may simply be dose-related, meaning that you might not be bothered by a lower dose.