The Doctors Forums

I'm really hoping I can get some idea of what is going on with me here, so I will apologize in advance for the length of this post... I am a 35 year old healthy woman other than the fact that I am overweight by about 70 pounds.  In 1991, (18 years old) I started getting these sharp shooting pains in my head. The pain would typically be on the top left hand side of my head. I ended up seeing my Internal Medicine doctor who took an x-ray of my skull and found that I had some nasal polyps. The IM doctor said that "Sometimes pain just exists" and treated the pain and sent me on my way. Just after, I saw an Ear, nose and throat doctor who confirmed that I did have nasal polyps by looking in my nose, but said if they weren't bothersome, to just leave them alone. So I did. The pain went away and I assumed the pain was caused by the polyps. However, 18 years later, I am still having the same pain in my head. The pain has been off and on over the years and I have self treated with Motrin 800 and it seems to help the pain. Pain usually subsides after a couple to 3 days later. I have always just assumed the pain was from the polyps. But after all this time, I really am not sure. Yesterday I had the similar pain but it was the worst ever. I woke up with what felt like pain in my ear (same sharp shooting pain). Later the pain I realized was actually not in my ear, but just in front of my ear between my cheek and ear (just below my temple). The pain wasn't just a quick sharp pain, but several at once. It almost feels like an electric "jolt". Then the pain started radiating from that spot to the top of my head (left hand side). The pain in earlier years usually lasts a second or two and then doesn't come again for a few minutes or sometimes hour(s) later. However, this pain was almost constant. Anytime I swallowed, chewed or even talked, it seemed to trigger more pain.It was so painful and annoying that it put me in the worst mood. I literally cried from the pain, which is so not like me. I ended up taking the day off of work and went to see an Internal Medicine doctor once again. She came in and I explained my story and described the pain as "debilitating". She asked me to open and close my jaw, and found no clicking. She looked for any lesions, rash or fractures on my head or skin-(none). She looked in my ear and said it looked good. My BP and temperature were both normal. She said she didn't feel an x-ray or CT scan was necessary. She also said she did not know what the pain was from, and that she was just going to "treat the pain" with Motrin 800 and that was that. I obviously didn't like this answer because I can't even imagine being in this "amount" of pain and have no understanding as to "why"! She felt that since I have been dealing with this for so long and it hadn't hurt me yet, it was probably nothing to worry about. As much as I want to respect and trust the doctor’s decision, I just can't get past the level of pain without knowing what it is. I can't just "not worry about it".  A little more background on me....I also suffer from seasonal allergies and have been a migraine sufferer for as far back as I can remember. I also have noticed in the last few months, I have been experiencing the “blood rushing” sound in my left ear, sometimes to the point of annoyance. When this happens, I also feel some pressure in my head. Not pain, but pressure. Today, I also feel the pain, just not as bad as yesterday. Also, I noticed I feel the pain in the top left side of my head the most today and have a hard time brushing my hair.Brushing my hair now seems to trigger the pain and feels like that part of my head is bruised. Any advice as to how to proceed would be greatly appreciated.