lump behind the ear?

Question

my boyfriend has a small lump behind his ear....it causes severe headaches, and now is affecting his eating........when he tries to bite into food the pressure he feels behind his ear is unbearable....he went to the doctors and they suggested that it might be rocky mountain spotted fever they gave him antibotics but it has done no good.......can you give us any idea of what this could be........thank you......Brenda

Answer 1

I have something like that happen to me when I used to wear earrings that are made of certain metals.. If he has his ear pierced tell him to remove it for about a week to see if it gets any better.

Answer 2

The lump may be an inflamed nodule due to an infection. Maybe he needs a CBC or a throat culture to determine what kind of bateria he has. The results will explain if the bacteria is gram positive or negative and what kind of antibiotics he should be prescribed.
Gram-negative bacteria are those that do not retain crystal violet dye in the Gram staining protocol. Gram-positive bacteria will retain the dark blue dye after an alcohol wash, whereas Gram-negative do not. In a Gram stain test, a counterstain is added after the crystal violet, which colors all Gram-negative bacteria a red or pink color. The test itself is useful in classifying two distinctly different types of bacteria based on structural differences in their cell walls.

Many species of Gram-negative bacteria are pathogenic, meaning they can cause disease in a host organism. This pathogenic capability is usually associated with certain components of Gram-negative cell walls, in particular the lipopolysaccharide (also known as LPS or endotoxin) layer.