Questions Your Doctor May Ask - and Why!
During a consultation, your doctor will use various techniques in his assesment of the symptom: Earache.
These may include a physical examination or other medical tests.
Your doctor may ask several questions when assessing
your condition. It is important to remember that your consultation is a two-way process and any extra information
you can share with your doctor may help them with their diagnosis.
Some of the questions your doctor may ask are listed below:
- How long have you had the ear pain?
Why: to determine if acute or chronic.
- Where exactly do you experience the ear pain and where does the pain radiate to?
Why: may assist in diagnosis e.g. in ear, behind ear, below ear.
- Is the pain unilateral or bilateral?
- Can you describe the nature of the pain?
- Have you had a recent upper respiratory tract infection?
Why: e.g. sore throat, runny nose, sinusitis - may suggest acute otitis media or myringitis bullosa (occurs with influenza, Haemophilus influenza and mycoplasma pneumoniae infections).
- Have you been swimming recently and where?
Why: may suggest otitis externa.
- Has there been any trauma to ear canal?
Why: may suggest otitis externa.
- Have you put anything into the ear canal?
Why: e.g. ear bud - may suggest foreign body and resultant otitis externa infection.
- Is there redness around a hole for an ear ring?
Why: suggests infected ear lobe. Often due to contact allergy to nickel or chromium in an ear ring.
- Has there been recent diving or flying?
Why: may suggest barotrauma to ear drum and may present with ear pain, deafness, dizziness, ringing in the ears and sometimes a discharge.
- Past medical history?
Why: e.g. allergic skin conditions such as eczema may predispose to otitis externa; medical conditions that may increase risk of recurrent middle ear infections include selective IgA deficiency, common variable immunodeficiency, X-linked agammaglobulinaemia, recurrent adenoiditis, Wegener's granulomatosis, HIV infection and obstructive sleep apnea; diabetes predisposes to furunculosis.
Questions your doctor may ask about related symptoms:
Sometimes, other symptoms may be present and may help your doctor analyse
your condition. These may include:
- Ear discharge?
Why: Acute ear discharge suggests acute otitis media (middle ear infection) with a rupture of the ear drum, otitis externa (outer ear infection) or myringitis bullosa. A chronic ear discharge may suggest cholesteatoma, chronic otitis media or mastoiditis.
- If a discharge is present, what is the nature of the discharge?
Why: A mucopurulent discharge (mucous to pus-like) suggests chronic otitis media and mastoiditis. A offensive discharge with whitish debris suggests cholesteatoma. A bloody discharge may suggest myringitis bullosa.
- Fever?
Why: suggests otitis media, mastoiditis, tonsillitis, sinusitis or tooth abscess.
- Hearing loss?
Why: may suggest acute otitis media, chronic otitis media, otitis externa, foreign body, mastoiditis, cholesteatoma, eustachian tube catarrh and barotrauma.
- Symptoms of acute otitis media?
Why: e.g. deep-seated ear pain, deafness , fever, a discharge may follow if the tympanic membrane ruptures which results in relief of pain and fever.
- Symptoms of otitis externa?
Why: e.g. itching at first, pain which may be aggravated by moving the ear of even the jaw, fullness feeling in the ear canal, mild discharge, hearing loss.
- Symptoms of acute mastoiditis?
Why: e.g. pain, swelling and tenderness developing behind the ear associated with general deterioration in well-being and mucous to pus-like ear discharge.
- Symptoms of herpes zoster infection?
Why: e.g. unilateral facial muscle weakness, pain behind the ear and sometimes deafness.
- Symptoms of temporomandibular joint dysfunction?
Why: e.g. pain over the jaw joint which may radiate to the ear, down the angle of the jaw, towards the cheek and even the neck; limitation of jaw movements , especially on opening the mouth; crackling and creaking in jaw joint with movement.
- Neck pain?
Why: disorders of the upper cervical spine, especially C2 and C3 levels may refer pain to the back area of the ear.
- Sore throat?
Why: may suggest throat disorders that may refer pain to the ear e.g. tonsillitis, pharyngitis.
- Tooth pain?
Why: may suggest dental conditions that may refer pain to the ear e.g. tooth abscess, recent dental work, dental disorders, impacted 3rd molars.
- Facial pain?
Why: may suggest certain conditions that may refer pain to the ear e.g. sinusitis, trigeminal neuralgia.
» Next page: Symptom combinations for Earache
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