Ear pain

Adult ear pain is most commonly otitis externa (swimmer's ear — pain on tugging the ear, swelling of the canal), TMJ dysfunction, eustachian tube dysfunction after a cold, or referred pain from teeth or throat. True middle-ear infections in adults are less common than in kids. Clindle evaluates ear pain over video — including patient-shared photos of the canal when possible — and prescribes antibiotic ear drops for otitis externa, decongestants and steroid sprays for eustachian dysfunction, or refers for in-person otoscopy when the picture isn't clear.