This is searing burning pain, especially on the right side of head and ear. I was hopeful that once the staples and sutures were removed, this would get better, it has not. My pattern this week is falling asleep (always elevated) around 10 or 11, waking up after two and a half hours in intense pain, taking one Percocet sitting up for 30 minutes until my pain is relieved, then sleep about three more hours and up again in great pain about 4am. I stay up at that point because that's around five hours of sleep and that's ok with me. What concerns me is this intense pain when lying down elevated. Has anyone else had this experience? I was lead to believe that it would be much better once the staples/ sutures were removed. It's not! I also can open my mouth about half the usual width of expansion. For example, I'm unable to open wide enough to eat a medium sized banana. Is this usual? I realize that healing takes a long time with this, but these things were not mentioned to me although I have a highly regarded surgeon with all of the appropriate certification. I feel embarrassed, but this amount of pain is shocking and I take the Percocet sparingly with only 10 each left and no refills. Advil/ Motrin at 200-600 mg. barely gives relief at all. It's 1:30 am now, the pain has subsided so I am going to attempt to get three more hours of sleep. Thanks to anyone for taking the time to read this, your suggestions are greatly appreciated. MHP92103