What is the bone behind your ear called?

The mastoid is the part of your skull located behind your ear. It's filled with air cells made of bone and looks like a honey comb. The diseased cells are often the result of an ear infection that has spread into your skull.

1. Why does my mastoid bone hurt?
2. Why is the bone behind my ear protruding?
3. What is the bone at the back of the ear called?
4. What happens if mastoiditis is left untreated?
5. Is mastoiditis serious?
6. How quickly does mastoiditis develop?
7. Can mastoiditis be cancerous?
8. Can you have mastoiditis without pain?
9. Does mastoiditis always cause fever?
10. What bacteria causes mastoiditis?
11. What can mimic mastoiditis?
12. What causes pain behind the ear and the base of the skull?
13. Can a tooth infection cause mastoiditis?
14. What is the best antibiotic for mastoiditis?
15. How do you know if an ear infection has spread to the brain?

Why does my mastoid bone hurt?

Mastoiditis is most often caused by a middle ear infection (acute otitis media). The infection may spread from the ear to the mastoid bone. The bone has a honeycomb-like structure that fills with infected material and may break down. The condition is most common in children.

Why is the bone behind my ear protruding?

Mastoiditis is a serious infection in the mastoid process, which is the hard, prominent bone just behind and under the ear. Ear infections that people fail to treat cause most cases of mastoiditis. The condition is rare but can become life-threatening without treatment.

What is the bone at the back of the ear called?

The mastoid bone is the back part of the temporal bone of the skull located just behind the inner ear. Mastoiditis is infection of the mastoid bone. The mastoid bone is made up of a honeycomb-like structure, which is full of mastoid air cells.

What happens if mastoiditis is left untreated?

If left untreated, mastoiditis can cause serious, even life-threatening, health complications, including hearing loss, blood clot, meningitis, or a brain abscess. But with early and appropriate antibiotic treatment and drainage, these complications can usually be avoided and you can recover completely.

Is mastoiditis serious?

Mastoiditis is a serious infection and should be diagnosed and treated quickly with antibiotics. You may need to go to hospital so antibiotics can be given directly into a vein through a drip (intravenously). In some cases, surgery may be needed to either: drain the middle ear (a myringotomy)

How quickly does mastoiditis develop?

Usually, symptoms of mastoiditis appear days to weeks after acute otitis media develops, as the spreading infection destroys the inner part of the mastoid process. A collection of pus (abscess) may form in the bone.

Can mastoiditis be cancerous?

Malignant tumours of the mastoid are rare, the majority being squamous cell carcinomas. We report two cases whose clinical presentation mimicked mastoid abscess with intracranial complications.

Can you have mastoiditis without pain?

The diagnosis of silent mastoiditis is often difficult because of the very mild systemic as well as local manifestations of the disease. Silent mastoiditis may be defined as an insidious progressive destruction of the mastoid process with or without otorrhea. The disease is afebrile and painless in its course.

Does mastoiditis always cause fever?

Chronic mastoiditis can also occur after an infection, but typically does not cause severe pain and fever. With chronic mastoiditis, recurrent ear infections or ear drainage often occurs.

What bacteria causes mastoiditis?

The most common are Streptococcus pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as well as Staphylococcus aureus and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae. Anaerobic organisms may also cause mastoiditis. However, the prevalence of bacterial organisms may be dependent on age and location.

What can mimic mastoiditis?

Local cellulitis of the scalp or preauricular tissues, or insect bites. Isolated inflammation or infection of the skin and scalp tissues behind the ear can mimic some signs of acute mastoiditis. Careful history taking and otoscopy can help distinguish these conditions.

What causes pain behind the ear and the base of the skull?

Occipital Neuralgia is a condition in which the occipital nerves, the nerves that run through the scalp, are injured or inflamed. This causes headaches that feel like severe piercing, throbbing or shock-like pain in the upper neck, back of the head or behind the ears.

Can a tooth infection cause mastoiditis?

Ultimately, a dental abscess was found on computed tomography (CT) to be the source of concurrent ipsilateral maxillary sinusitis and mastoiditis.

What is the best antibiotic for mastoiditis?

The most commonly used antibiotics are ceftriaxone, vancomycin, and linezolid. Your doctor will decide the best option for you based on your symptoms, overall health, age, and other factors.

How do you know if an ear infection has spread to the brain?

The deadliest complication of otitis media is a brain abscess, an accumulation of pus in the brain due to an infection. The most common symptoms are headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, neurologic deficits and altered consciousness.