Burning ear, flushing

[TestTube]

When my serum T gets to around 400-500 or higher lately, I get a weird symptom. At night just before bed, the top of my ears get hot.. Mainly my left ear. It gets inflamed, hot and red. This lasts for an hour or two. I'm not sure if its blood sugar related, and why the heck it is mainly my left ear. I got kicked in the head and neck by a cow on that side and thrown 5 feet a year ago (had a concussion). That was in March of 2022. I didn't have this symptom until about August of last year. I have been taking a beta blocker for 20 years, but that never caused this type of problem. I'm not sure what could have changed in the past 8 or 10 months to cause this. My labs are all good, almost everything is perfectly in the middle of the reference ranges. My A1C is good. It's not an infection, not a sunburn. It's strange. It's like flushing, but again, mainly my left ear. Does anyone else get this?

 

[Systemlord]

At night just before bed, the top of my ears get hot..

It can be caused by hormonal changes. I get this occasionally when lying on the couch late in the evening and women get this pre-menopause.

I’m on a beta blocker as well. Some beta blockers make it more difficult for your body to regulate body temperature.

 

[TestTube]

It can be caused by hormonal changes. I get this occasionally when lying on the couch late in the evening and women get this pre-menopause.

I’m on a beta blocker as well. Some beta blockers make it more difficult for your body to regulate body temperature.

Ok. Seems it might be a vasodilation thing from hormones. I just can't understand why it's mostly my left ear. Maybe I need my carotid artery looked at.

 

[Systemlord]

Ok. Seems it might be a vasodilation thing from hormones. I just can't understand why it's mostly my left ear. Maybe I need my carotid artery looked at.

Remember, your heart pumps blood from the left side to the right side of your body.

My biceps and calf muscles are bigger on my left side.

 

[TestTube]

We're lopsided!

 

[sammmy]

Any aching inside ear or headaches at the same time?

 

[Phil Goodman]

I had episodes of that three years ago but never found out what caused it. I thought I had an autoimmune disorder. There is one that can cause similar issues but I think this issue is much more common than the autoimmune problem.

The red ear syndrome

Red Ear Syndrome (RES) is a very rare disorder, with approximately 100 published cases in the medical literature. Red ear (RE) episodes are characterised by unilateral or bilateral attacks of paroxysmal burning sensations and reddening of the external ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

That article says it’s extremely rare, but there are Facebook and other groups and it’s definitely a lot more common than is documented. I think a lot of the time it involves cervical spine issues or perhaps nerve issues, similar to what happens to people who suffer from trigeminal neuralgia. For some people the ears get so hot that it’s painful. Mine never got that bad, but when it first started it was way worse in the middle of the night. I would wake up occasionally with ears inflamed to the point of itching. That aspect made me think there is a hormonal aspect to it because of the fluctuations and increases overnight(wasn’t on trt at the time). In my case I hurt my neck in the gym and was dealing with that during the summer, and also probably spending way too much time in the sun playing tennis and other activities(which may have also caused excess vitamin d issues). Somehow I guess that overwhelmed my body and threw some aspects of it out of whack, whether it was hormonal, nerve(from the neck issue), inflammation from lifting and excess sun, temperature regulation getting out of whack due to extreme heat consistently, vitamin issues, or a combination of some/all and/or something else I don’t really know. Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but like I said there are lots of groups out there that discuss it and it’s more common than you think. Mine died down over time. I did do an AIP diet for a month to try to reduce inflammation and just tried to let my body recover which seemed to help a lot. Now I don’t have any issues. I guess the main takeaway is that our bodies are really really complex and crazy. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

 

[TestTube]

Any aching inside ear or headaches at the same time?

not in my case, no pain. just the outer, upper ear. Sometimes both ears, but more often than not, just my left one.

 

[TestTube]

I had episodes of that three years ago but never found out what caused it. I thought I had an autoimmune disorder. There is one that can cause similar issues but I think this issue is much more common than the autoimmune problem.

The red ear syndrome

Red Ear Syndrome (RES) is a very rare disorder, with approximately 100 published cases in the medical literature. Red ear (RE) episodes are characterised by unilateral or bilateral attacks of paroxysmal burning sensations and reddening of the external ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

That article says it’s extremely rare, but there are Facebook and other groups and it’s definitely a lot more common than is documented. I think a lot of the time it involves cervical spine issues or perhaps nerve issues, similar to what happens to people who suffer from trigeminal neuralgia. For some people the ears get so hot that it’s painful. Mine never got that bad, but when it first started it was way worse in the middle of the night. I would wake up occasionally with ears inflamed to the point of itching. That aspect made me think there is a hormonal aspect to it because of the fluctuations and increases overnight(wasn’t on trt at the time). In my case I hurt my neck in the gym and was dealing with that during the summer, and also probably spending way too much time in the sun playing tennis and other activities(which may have also caused excess vitamin d issues). Somehow I guess that overwhelmed my body and threw some aspects of it out of whack, whether it was hormonal, nerve(from the neck issue), inflammation from lifting and excess sun, temperature regulation getting out of whack due to extreme heat consistently, vitamin issues, or a combination of some/all and/or something else I don’t really know. Sorry I can’t be more helpful, but like I said there are lots of groups out there that discuss it and it’s more common than you think. Mine died down over time. I did do an AIP diet for a month to try to reduce inflammation and just tried to let my body recover which seemed to help a lot. Now I don’t have any issues. I guess the main takeaway is that our bodies are really really complex and crazy. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

I was reading that article last night. Yeah, it seems this is more common than reported. Here's some other random facts, in case anyone else is dealing with this:

1. I noticed this flared up again after I overdosed on vitamin B3 (niacin) last year (which normally causes flushing). I guess that b3 is out of my system, but the burning ears persist.

2. As I mentioned, I got kicked by a cow and thrown several feet. The cow kicked me in the back of the head on my left side, my neck, and come to think of it, my ear.

3. I have a bad neck and back (stenosis), so it could be that, but if I remember right, my type of stenosis should only affect my arms and hands.

4. In my case testosterone exacerbates it. Especially if I missed a couple injections and I'm low, and then do a shot.

5. My blood pressure is normal. While my A1C is ok but could be better (5.5).

6. My blood counts are normal.

7. I also have autoimmune issues (hashimoto's, arthritis). My ESR, CRP, and TPO Abs are sometimes elevated.

8. I grind my teeth a lot, but I don't have TMJ as far as I know.

That's about all I can think of.