What Causes Outer Ear Bone Pain? Symptoms And Treatment Options

What Causes Outer Ear Bone Pain? Symptoms And Treatment Options . Ear is an important organ in our body without which hearing would have been a distant possibility. It is connected to the brain by auditory nerve. Ear is divided into three parts; external ear, middle ear and inner ear. Most part of the ear is enclosed in the temporal bone of the skull. Mastoid bone lies just behind the ear and it is a part of temporal bone.

Pain in bone that lies on the outer side of the ear is related to mastoid bone. Mastoid bone is made up of small trabeculea, or air spaces.

Posted by http://signs-causes-treatment-prevention.blogspot.com Prevention And Detection Of Diseases At An Early Stage When The First Signs To Get The Most Effective Treatment.

Infection and inflammation in the mastoid bone gives rise to outer ear bone pain. In medical parlance the condition is also called mastoiditis.

Mastoiditis usually occurs in children. The condition can also prevail in adults at times. Mastoiditis most of the time occurs as a result of chronic middle ear infection also known as otitis media.

What Causes Pain On The Bone Behind The Ear?

The prominent reason for outer bone pain is due to mastoiditis. It is a bacterial infection in the mastoid bone which lies behind the ear. Mostly infection in the middle ear is responsible for pain in ear bone.

Posted by http://signs-causes-treatment-prevention.blogspot.com Prevention And Detection Of Diseases At An Early Stage When The First Signs To Get The Most Effective Treatment.

Because of close proximity between the cells of mastoid bone and middle ear, infective bacteria in middle ear can easily pass in the outer ear bone (mastoid).

Apart from this, a kind of cyst or a tumor called Osteoma present in middle ear can give rise to pain in the outer bone of the ear. The cyst of middle ear can block the drainage of the ear leading to mastoiditis. Children are more vulnerable to this bony problem because their immunity is not very well developed and the structure of mastoid process too is underdeveloped. The ear bone becomes filled with infected pus and if not taken care of, can result in bony destruction.

Outer Ear Bone Pain Symptoms

• In almost all the cases, there is discharge of pus of fluid from the ear canal. This is due to infection in the middle ear.
• There is extreme pain and tenderness on mastoid bone. The pain is throbbing as well as discomforting.
• There is spontaneous rise of temperature together with other systemic symptoms such as headache etc.
• In many cases hearing loss is evident.
• Inflammation and redness is evident behind the ear.
• Together with inflammation and redness there is there is a bulge at the back of ear. It is often observed when the condition is acute.

Treatment For Pain In Outer Ear Bone

When there is pain in the outer ear bone, determining the probable reason becomes far easier. However, doctors may still like to evaluate the condition. If the pain is suspected to be that of mastoiditis, further tests may be advised and may include X-ray, MRI and blood test.

• The first line of treatment for bone pain in outer ear is anti-inflammatory medicine and oral antibiotics and ear drops. The treatment may be of long duration because medication may be difficult to reach deep down the mastoid bone.
• Many time injections of antibiotic may be more beneficial than oral antibiotics.
• When the pain and infection in the outer bone of the ear is not relieved with conventional therapy, surgery has to be performed. The infected bone behind the ear may have to be removed.
• If the condition is neglected, there is a chance of hearing loss, meningitis, or even abscess in brain.