My ear infection actually turned out to be...

TMJ.

I've been experiencing on and off pain in my ears for the last two years. It was impeding my hearing, sore, tender to the touch and gives me headaches that I can't stomach sometimes. I went to the doctor today and he looked in my ears. Of course, no infections or anything but when he pressed on my ear and pulled it back, it hurt. He put his fingers in the area where my upper and lower jaw meet and when I opened my mouth, it hurt.

He said that my best bet is to contact a dentist about getting the TMJ repaired. I talked to my mother about it tonight and her dentist also told her she had TMJ, which the one solution they gave her was to have her jaw broken and then set into place with her mouth wired shut. When I was in the Marine Corps and going to the dentist, they also told me the same thing. I figured that it was a fluke.

Honestly, I'm freaked out. It's not a cost thing; it's a pain tolerance thing. I know it has to be repaired and the one thing keeping me from calling a dentist tomorrow morning is the fear of having my jaw wired shut for any point of time.

Any advice?