A 54-year-old woman who had previously been treated for intermittent dizziness of an indeterminate nature presented with a 1-week history of left-sided otalgia that radiated to the deep neck structures on the left side. She was otherwise in good health, with no recent history of trauma to the neck or head. Her pain was described as a deep retroauricular and neck pain that had started suddenly and then had somewhat improved to the present, stable baseline. Her medical history was remarkable for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD), osteoporosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and chronic back pain. She denied any history of similar pain, tonsillitis, or trauma to the neck or oropharynx. Her family history was noncontributory.