Painful ears when I sleep

What does your GP say? You really should take medical advice before you consult a bunch of strangers.

I suffer similarly, but mines because i clench my jaw. I have a splint which helps.

I used to wake up with terrible earache, it was because I ground my teeth all night. Speak to your dentist they will be able to help.

Is it your outer ear that is painful? Does it ache at times during the day? If so you are not alone.
I have tried several different types of pillow, to try to alleviate this problem.
I tried sleeping on my back, but just couldn't get a proper night 's sleep.
I currently have a buckwheat pillow. I can mould a little hollow for my ear when I'm lying on my right. Funnily enough, it's only the right ear that is affected. My left ear is fine.
I was thinking of investing in a pillow with a hole, but I don't think I will bother.

Of course * geekess* I have consulted my GP and had my ears x rayed. I thought GN were usually helpful.

Thanks Minimoon for your idea of a buckwheat pillow. I will certainly look into it.

I have a similar problem. Can ONLY sleep on my side.....but there are times, when within about five or ten minutes my outer ear gets very hot and very uncomfortable - it prevents me getting to sleep. If I move my pillow to where there is a cold place it is fine,.. for a few minutes. Have tried using those cold things inside the pillow case, but they are too cold for the rest of my head.

TBH, the only thing that really helps me on those night is a sleeping pill. and I hate taking these too often.

GP does give me some mild anti-biotic ear drops, and when I get a bout of this I find if I use that for a few days, then it will clear up.

I wear hearing aids in both ears during the day and am certain it is they that are causing some sort of reaction.

I use a good memory pillow - although when I have one of these bouts, I have tried changing to normal pillows - makes no difference. Like the sound of pillow with a hole in it - where have you seen these?

DH had a sore outer ear, I think it was diagnosed as Winklers syndrome, I adapted a pillow to make a hollow middle, it helped a bit. The soreness gradually eased, and has gone now.

My goodness, looked up pillows with a hole in it - over £50 each and then pillow cases are another £25!!!

Think I can actually make one myself with a spare pillow and see how it works.

The idea of the buckwheat hull pillow came from Japan. They have a saying that for a good night's sleep you need a cool head and warm feet.
Air circulates through the buckwheat hulls, and the pillow stays cool.
The first one I had was Japanese size (square), my current one is regular pillow size.

It sounds as if you have the same problem as me. I have no rims on my ears which means the cartilage of the ear gets pressed into the surface of the pillow and it really hurts. You can actually buy little padded covers to go over your ears which cushions them.

I always used to suffer with sore ears at night until I used a Dormeo Octaspring pillow which came free with a mattress topper. It is made of memory foam formed into 'springs'. it feels like a brick but is amazingly comfortable - no more sore ears or neck. Expensive on the Dormeo site (£88), but much cheaper on Ebay or Amazon
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DORMEO-OCTASPRING-TRUE-EVOLUTION-PILLOW-HIGH-PROFILE-MEMORY-FOAM-PILLOW/224053199708?epid=0&hash=item342a9c835c:g:gm0AAOSwVwNe77He

We use buckwheat pillows and have done for years. Lovely to use and you can adjust the filling to suit yourself. They make different sized pillows (you can buy extra covers separately, I think)

Here's a link to the company that we use:

www.razzmatazz.co.uk/organic-buckwheat-pillows

The pillows last for years!