Why Does One Ear Hurt SO Much?

I do not have hyperacusis. I have T in both ears. My hearing loss levels are minimal, but my left ear hurts SO badly. It feels "dead" and numb inside, maybe a little pressurized, sort of like your skin does when you get mild frostbite. It's felt like this for a year. The ear also crackles A LOT. Every time I move my tongue or jaw it makes a series of loud crackles. My right ear does not. The pain is REALLY fucking distracting. Even when I'm sitting in front of an AC on full blast (low pitches mask my T well) the ear STILL hurts. I'm trying to write an essay for an online class right now, and between the pain, the ringing, and the floaters, my progress is very slow...

It's really dragging me down. The same ear also has a possible isolated 20dB conductive loss at 2kHz (Carhart's notch) but this is up for debate.

I just don't know how to deal with this. To be honest, I've been staving off suicide since I was 15 - as a kid my biggest passions were reading & hockey - when I got my eye floaters both of them became hell - white pages and bright white ice rinks were a nightmare, so I started taking antidepressants, which have made me chronically fatigued and stupid as hell compared to my previous level of intelligence. I've lost 6 years of my life so far... I need to get better, or I'm going to die.

Does anyone think this pain could be from TMJ problems? I have a long history of grinding my teeth, eating crunchy foods, and stress. My teeth are more worn on the left side (where the ear pain is) than the right. When I move my jaw sideways gently, it grinds painfully. I read that TMJ problems can refer pain to the ear, instead of the jaw. However, I do not have blatantly obvious TMD, where your jaw locks every time you open it wide.

 

Have you ruled out otosclerosis?

 

One of my ear (acoustic trauma) hurt so much permanently

 

Have you ever been evaluated by a neuromuscular dentist?
Sounds like it might be worthwhile for you to look into.
You don't have to have clicking or locking of the jaw to have TMJ issues that could be helped with the right care.
Hang in there, hope you'll find relief soon