My ears have been giving me trouble for 2-3 years now. I developed Swimmer s Ear in my right ear a few years back and went to the doctor and got rid of it, but ever since my ears have been uber-sensitive with water. The lymph nodes behind my ears swell up every time I get a shower and if I leave them alone they go away within a few hours, but if say I have an itch in my ear and I scratch it, they will either stay for a day or two or they will turn into Swimmer s Ear again. Recently I went swimming for about 1 1/2 for two days straight with showers directly after, and my lymph nodes have swelled quite a bit. However, the one under my right ear is now a pea-sized, somewhat painful lump that hasn t gone away in two days. I really don t feel it unless I try to massage it, which is just painful by itself and really doesn t offer any relief at all. But just today the cartilage in the upper half of my ear has gone numb, and I compared it with my left ear and I can definitely tell that it is going numb. It s never done this before and the painful lymph node is getting to where I can feel the pressure all the time. My left ear is completely fine and I m getting worried. Before my first ear infection I never had any trouble with my ears, ever, but after the first time I had Swimmer s Ear it s rare for my lymph nodes NOT to swell up at least twice a week. I m sick of it and constantly going to the doctor for medicine that only gets rid of the infection, not the swelling itself. Do I need to see an ENT? Or am I just going to have to life with it for the rest of my life?