imaworrier

About 4 to 5 months ago I noticed tenderness under my right ear, in my eustachian tube area. It was very mild, and I didn't think anything of it. Then about 2 1/2 months ago, I became developed pain in my sinus' and my jaw, also with a lot of congestion in my right ear, but with no nasal congestion. Went to doctor and was treated with antibiotics. After 9 days of antibiotics my sinus pain was gone, but my jaw pain and ear congestion persisted, and my tongue hurt and was felt like it was burning. The burning feeling on my tongue has continued on and off. It also feels swollen on the right, although it's not visibly so.

I went to my dentist, and he said my jaw pain was not TMJ, and that I probably had a virus. After about 2 more weeks of pain, I went to another doctor who said I don't have TMJ, but possibly a salivary gland problem and referred me to an ENT. Went to an ENT a he felt around in my mouth and looked in my nose and felt my neck and throat and said I was fine and it was all in my head. He even told me the exam he did was more thorough than a CTscan.

The pain continues (despite being told I'm fine, go figure), and last week I felt a small lump on my jawbone, right behind where my back tooth is on the lower jaw, like it's on the muscle there. It's tender and hard. Anyway I went back to the dentist to see if he'd do an x-ray, he said it wasn't dental and soft tissue doesn't show up on dental x-rays, and I probably do have mild TMJ. He gave me jaw exercises to do for 2 weeks and told me to come back in a month.

What has me concerned is the lump on my jaw. I e-mailed my doctor about it last week, and she mailed me back a full week ago and told me she'd look at my chart and have her nurse call me, but I haven't heard anything.

Question is, does this story sound familiar to anyone?
I'm 34, I have never smoked, I rarely drink and I don't have a family history of head or neck cancer that I know of (don't know about all sides of my family). I feel weird on my whole right side, like it's out of allignment. My legs even feel weird. I was having lower back and abdomen and flank pain on the same side several months ago.