Is the pain inside the ear that occurs in life a middle ear infection? Actually, no, a variety of clinical conditions can cause ear pain. Here’s a look at what can cause ear pain. 1, ear neuralgia – the large nerve in the ear, trigeminal neuralgia may cause ear pain often stabbing, pain is more intense, the pain duration varies from a few seconds or several hours. 2. Temporomandibular joint pain – The temporomandibular joint is located in front of the external ear canal, and pain here can also be mistaken for ear pain, which often occurs when chewing on hard things, etc. 3. Acute otitis media – It is common in children, especially after upper respiratory tract infections, and often occurs in the middle of the night. The pain is so severe that you cannot sleep, but it does not last long. If there is no fluid in the external ear canal, the pain is often severe, and if there is fluid flow, the eardrum may be perforated. In contrast, the common chronic otitis media rarely leads to ear pain. 4. External ear canal cancer and middle ear cancer – A very small percentage of patients with long-term otitis media untreated, or with sudden otitis media bleeding, should be aware of the risk of middle ear cancer. And there are many reasons for ear pus, not just ear pus is otitis media! At this time, it is important to not only observe the nature of the pus flow, but also to determine the source of the pus flow from the ear. Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the middle ear and pus flow, mostly with perforation of the eardrum; pus flow from the external ear canal, caused by infection of the external ear canal, often with the eardrum intact; in some patients, it occurs as running water (cool fluid) after collision and trauma, which may be cerebrospinal fluid after a fracture of the skull base caused by trauma, and must be better recognized. Finally, appropriate treatment measures are actively taken for the different causes of the flow of pus. Therefore, if you want to determine what exactly is the cause of ear pain, you can go to the relevant department of a regular hospital to confirm the diagnosis.