No, it is definitely not normal to have swollen glands in the same area for over a year.
It sounds like you have had this ear/head/face pain, on and off, for the past year. In someone without allergies, this would appear to be a pretty obvious case of recurrent sinusitis or recurrent ear infections. With allergies, the picture is a little less clear.
Allergies can lead to many of the symptoms you describe - head/face/jaw/ear pain, and everything else associated with the sinus inflammation that commonly accompanies allergies. Some people find relief from their allergy symptoms with medications (claritin, etc.), but some have a harder time finding relief.
But sinusitis (inflammation and infection of the sinuses) can also lead to these symptoms, and sinusitis, if it persists for a long enough time requires treatment. Often, sinusitis can be started by a simple viral infection that will clear on its own. But over time, a bacterial infection can also occur, and this requires antibiotics. Symptoms are similar as above, but there can also be drainage from the nose (clear, or colored, "snot", for lack of a better word).
Since the sinuses are connected to the ears, as well, both allergies and sinusitis can lead to ear pressure and pain, and even ear infection as well. So this could also be a factor.
A swollen gland like this could be related to either allergies or infection, but I think it suggests infection in the sinuses/ears a little more than simple allergy symptoms.
So it's hard to say what you've been experiencing, but for it to have persisted for so long, I think that it requires a workup at this point.
A CT scan is used in patients with persistent sinusitis (this could be you) to look for anything unusual - a plugged sinus, abscess, etc. This could be useful.
Amoxicillin works very well for many of the bugs that can cause sinusitis and ear infections, so it may do the trick here. If it's not working, however, augmentin and other antibiotics might be worth a shot, as well. And you may need to take them for a few weeks, if the infection is hard to eradicate.
In any event, since we don't know what is going on here, further workup is necessary. If the amoxicillin doesn't help, then additional antibiotics should be added. Perhaps a CT of your sinuses should occur as well, to look and see if there is anything unusual there. Some of these may be allergy-related, but there may also be persistent infection.
So I hope this helps. Speak with your physician and tell them you are sick and tired of dealing with these symptoms for over a year. You want additional workup, and medication trials until you find something that helps. The swollen lymph nodes should resolve once your other sinus symptoms are dealt with, since they're most likely all related.
I hope you feel better. Please let me know if you have any further questions - I'm more than happy to help.
Take care - Dr. Fay
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