Hi Littleone,
I don't know alot about this but just wanted to say that I'm sorry. You've been through alot lately!
I've had small cysts in my salivary glands, and my ENT just said to ignore them, and they eventually went away. But I definitely never had an infection.
I'm sort of into the habit of seeing a specialist for certain things. I probably would have seen an ENT to start with. Sometimes our regular docs sit too long on things. I'm thinking that once you get the infection gone, you may not need much more.....but I'm no expert. I mostly just wanted to offer you my sympathies on the rough time you've had lately. Hang in there!
P.S. Be sure to eat yogurt and take acidophilus, so you don't end up with alot of diarrhea from the antibiotic.

I have had a problem with my parotid gland for about a year now. I went to my dentist thinking it was a tooth.I had pain when I ate and drainage from that side of my mouth. I let it go for about 3 months until my cheek swelled and i had severe pain in my ear. He sent me to my family physician who put me on keflex.I was leaving for a trip to jamaica a few days after i started the medication and was in extreme pain. My friends husband is a surgeon and ordered me a stronger antibiotic which took the pain away within 24 hours. When i returned from Jamaica I went to an ENT, he put me on still another antibiotic and sent me for a cat scan. The scan did not show a stone or any blockage. I was good for about a month and then it started draining again. I would get a lump in my cheek when i ate. As long as it would drain I wasn't in too much pain. about a month ago the lump turned into a long hard tube like lump that went from my ear to the gland and then a big lump where the gland is. Again the pain went into my ear. I went back to the ENT who put me on antibiotics once again.The swelling has gone down alot and the pain in my ear is gone but I still get a long lump in my face when I eat. The Doctor said he would send me for another scan but I can't see how that will show anything unless I'm eating while they are scanning. I hate to have to keep going back and fourth to the Doctors office and taking so much medication but I don't have any idea where else to go for help. The last thing I want to do Is have surgery that is if they even find out what is wrong. Let me know how you make out.

Hi Morgan,

Well I went to the ENT and he believed that this was a cyst in the parotid gland. He did mention surgery, but not now.
The swelling had come down quite a bit in the 5 days I was on the Keflex, but hurt like you know what, if it was touched. So he wanted to drain the cyst and I said fine.

A couple of injections of novacaine and a big syringe to pull out the fluid. Thing is there was no fluid coming out.
All they got was a very small amount of pus that was sent off to the lab. He was very surprised. told me that if the pain got worse, the swelling got worse or I started to run a fever again to call right away.

Went home and by the time I got home it was hurting like crazy again. The pain was worse where the needles went in for the novacaine and the drainage and it was hard as a rock again. Took more keflex and some tylenol and crawled back to bed.

Next day seemed to be a bit better and continued on the antibiotic. By Wednesday night the pain was horrible and the swelling was getting worse. Didn't sleep all night and called the docs office the next morning and told them what was happening and could taste some drainage into my mouth again.
They called me back in about 20 minutes and changed the antibiotic to Augmentum, which is worse on the stomach than the Keflex. told me to start it that evening and take it twice a day. Then find out the doc is away this week, but if it doesn't get better in a few days or gets worse or something to call and I can talk to the doc that is covering.

Well the Augmentum is killing my stomach. I'm either nauseas most of the day or running to the bathroom and you have to take this med after eating a meal or it won't work. You need the food to help absorb the medicine.
The good news is the swelling is almost gone in my neck and that part of me is feeling much better.
The rest of me with the med is feeling horrible, but as long as I can finish the bottle, I'll be happy. Have 7 more days to go to finish as he gave me 14 days worth to take. I just hope that I can continue to finish the meds.

I did have some swelling go into my cheek but that was from the swelling in my neck. I have not had any pain go into my ear though. The ENT did try to see if pressure on the swelling would cause drainage into my mouth. It didn't at the time I saw him but it did the next day. It was off and on.

If I where you, I would get another opinion with another ENT doc. The one you are using doesn't seem to know what is going on. It sure wouldn't hurt to have another opinion since this has been going on for so long for you.

As for surgery, I feel the same way and before I ever consented to surgery I would get at least one other opinion.
Made that mistake a few years ago and had surgery on my arm and have suffered permenent disabilities since and should never have had the surgery. Long story but it was incorrect diagnosis. Would never make the same mistake twice.

Let us...

HI, I've had parotid cysts (I think) for about 7-8 years now and they still get infected and cause me pain, has anyone had any luck getting this sorted? it doesn't seem like any of the doctors I've seen can really come to a decision about what they are really what can be done about them.

Not sure if mine was similar, but some yrs. ago I had a lump appear in the middle of my right cheek. Was told it was Frey syndrome .. a parotid gland tumor. It was removed & not malignant but now when I eat I get a wet pinkish cheek where the surgery was... like Pavloff's dog that salivates when it sees food!! It has become so common now when I eat that I automatically have a napkin to wipe my cheek!!

This can also be a symptom of Sjogren's syndrome and is usually diagnosed by a rheumatologist.

I have been having issues since April 2015 and could not get figure it out. Finally discussed this with my dentist and explaining that I get shooting pains in my cheek - especially when eating spicy or sweet foods. I also have a lump just behind my ear. She referred me to a doctor who ran more tests - MRI and biopsy shows a benign cyst. My ENT suggested surgery and I was ready to move forward but when he told me they would remove the gland as part of the surgery I decided to do more research. Has anyone else been advised to have surgery for a cyst? I am looking for a good ENT with a lot of experience with this in Florida but so far everyone I have found has been in California.

So sorry you are dealing with an infection! Those are sooo painful. My story sounds very similar to yours.

I've had a couple issues of my left gland becoming infected throughout my life (once in childhood and again during first pregnancy) and antibiotics usually corrected in within a week (and sucking on sour candy to stimulate salivary excretion). But last spring I noticed a weird lump on left side -- but this time is wasn't painful, and didn't get as large as previous infections. Some days it would be more swollen then others, I applied various essential oils to it daily to help prevent it getting infected -- which it still hasn't (knock on wood). But it was still there after 4 months so I went to an ENT. He had me do a CT scan - he was worried it was a tumor, but the scan showed no solid mass. He assumed it was small cysts that would need to be removed but wanted an MRI before proceeding. So did the MRI, and it isn't a small cyst but one giant one that takes up my entire parotid gland. i asked if it could just be drained, but he said it would keep coming back. He wanted to remove the entire gland - which scares the living daylight savings out of me (I hate surgery). But he's still kinda "perplexed" over what this is for sure so he referred me to another ENT for a second opinion... Waiting on that appointment now. Has anyone here had a parotidectomy done before?

I had a lump just appear on my right cheek in 1974. It was a tumor (not an infectionon the salivary (parotid) gland. The surgeon's father had one also he said; It was removed & it was malignant but mine was benign ... some sort of a cyst. I had slight facial numbness/paralysis for a short time but then the only thing I still have is a slight 'blush' & slight 'sweating' where the gland was removed when I eat .... like 'Pavlof's dog'!! he said! Think it was called ? Fey's or Frey's syndrome. That was years ago & it went so well back then so I can imagine it will go much better even now after all these years. I sure wouldn't worry about the surgery as it will be so much better with the cyst gone & you don't have to worry.

I've had a cyst on my parotid gland for several years now It has been drained and had a cat scan of it. It recenty got so big, it was very sore to touch. I started putting warm compresses on it and taking Tylenol and it's gone down a litle and pain is gone. Scary! Going to see the doctor on Monday. Was told to drink more water, which made no difference. Was treated with antibiotic after being drained, but eventually filled up again. I've had cyst on my wrist, left breast and left ear lobe. Was told I'm susceptible to cyst. Was not told to have parotid removed, but if I get releif from hot compresse, then I'd forget about surgery. I'll see what happens Monday.