For ear pain near the great auricular nerve area, there is no single specific medicine until the cause is identified. This nerve supplies skin over the lower outer ear, earlobe, angle of the jaw, and upper neck. Pain there can come from local skin irritation, an ear infection, jaw or dental problems, neck muscle strain, shingles, or nerve irritation.

Do not start antibiotics, steroid drops, or nerve-pain medicines such as gabapentin on your own. Antibiotics only help certain bacterial infections and may be wrong if the pain is from the jaw, teeth, neck, nerve inflammation, or shingles. Ear drops should not be used if there is ear discharge, a possible eardrum perforation, or ear tubes unless prescribed. Standard medical references list ibuprofen and acetaminophen as first-line agents for ear pain; topical analgesic drops are only temporary and are unsuitable with eardrum perforation or tubes. NHS earache advice similarly recommends paracetamol or ibuprofen for symptom relief.

Get urgent medical assessment today if you have:

If the pain feels like brief electric shocks or burning triggered by touching the earlobe/neck, a clinician should assess for neuralgia or shingles rather than treating it as a routine ear infection.