Ear pain
Ddx
- Referred pain (see below)
- Otitis media
- Otitis externa
- tonsillitis
- Retropharyngeal abscess
Red flags for cancer
- concurrent dysphonia
- odynophagia
- hoarseness + immunocompromise
- neck mass
- wt loss
- focal neurology
- unilat otalgia >4/52 + normal otoscopy
Referred pain: sources
- CN5: TMJ dysfunction, dental abscess
- CN9: oropharyngeal pathology - peritonsillar abscess, oropharyngeal Ca
- CN10: laryngeal cancer
- C2, C3 e.g. cervical spine disease