the.com/earache
the body's most dramatic complaint about a problem you literally cannot see.
means A pain inside the ear, often sharp or throbbing, usually caused by infection or pressure.
from A plain English compound that does exactly what it says: 'ear' (Old English ēare, kin to German Ohr and ultimately the same Indo-European root that gives Latin auris and English 'aural') joined to 'ache' (Old English acan, the verb for a dull, lingering pain). Two old, blunt Anglo-Saxon words bolted together — no Latin frills, just the body naming its trouble in the oldest words it has.
- referred pain
- Often starts in throat, teeth, or jaw, not ear
- pressure trap
- Blocked Eustachian tubes turn altitude into agony
- kid magnet
- Five in six children get one by age three
- swimmer's curse
- Trapped water breeds bacteria in the outer canal
- phantom ache
- Sometimes the ear hurts from pure nerve confusion
acute otitis media — affects 80% of children by age 3, most common reason for pediatric antibiotic prescriptions
swimmer's ear — pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in external auditory canal, peaks in summer months