A few days ago I noticed a bump at my hairline on the left side of my forehead. I thought it was just a zit. After a while, a second bump formed. I figured it was a little acne outbreak. At the same time, I began feeling some pain on the left side of my neck. I thought that was a pimple in the process of forming. I must think every abnormality is acne related. Anyway, I woke up the next morning in pain. My scalp was in pain a few inches back from the first bumps I noticed. Those initial bumps were now part of a much larger bump, and the left side of my neck and around my ear felt like someone had hit me with a right hook. I had no idea what to think of all of this. The pain on my scalp and forehead was on the skin, but the pain on my neck was under the skin.

I told my boss about the pain in my neck and cheek area, around the ear, and he told me it sounded like an ear infection. I went to an Urgent Care and was seen by a physician's assistant. She was almost as confused by my symptoms as I was. The only thing she could think of was that I had a case of the Shingles and the pain in the neck was due to my lymph nodes swelling under the stress of fighting the virus. She prescribed me an antiviral medication and told me to take ibuprofen. I felt like it was a huge waste of time going in there and I doubted her very uncertain diagnosis. I googled the Shingles and found out that it only occurs on one side of your body. This seemed to explain why all my pain was on the left side of my head. Still, I was unsure.

I went to bed last night and got maybe 4 hours of sleep due to the pain. I now notice that even more of my scalp hurts and it has starting itching something fierce. I think the physician's assistant was right. Of all the random ailments to come down with, this is one I never expected.