Earache

Earache is read through what one hears - or refuses to hear. The pain often follows discomfort at something said or, just as often, something not said: a longed-for word of love or approval that never comes. The pattern is sensitivity to one's surroundings turned protective: one would rather turn a deaf ear and block out what wounds, withdrawing into oneself with a quiet sadness. The short explanation's "lack of feeling and/or sensitivity" is read here as that deliberate dulling - shutting the ear because what reaches it hurts. Relief is described as letting oneself hear and take in what is said, including the care one longs for, without needing to close off.

Example from the findings: ear pain is read as the discomfort of what one hears, or the ache of what one needs to hear and does not.