Is there a doctor on the blog?

I've never had an ear infection before, so I'm not quite sure what it looks like. If that middle part of my ear is drop dead red, the middle bar (I really need a good diagram of an ear right now) is slightly swollen and feels kinda itchy sometimes, yet throbs whenever I touch it....is that an ear infection? Because, I imagine I'd want to take care of this problem somehow, even though it might involve going to the health center ("No, I don't have a cold. I'm pretty sure I'm not pregnant, either, thanks."), and I'd hoped I could skip that all 4(+) years.

Maybe this is something that will just go away, like my allergies. Perhaps I'm just an amazing medical marvel that self-cures unbelievably well. (And possibly I'm just trying to talk myself out of a pointless trip to the health center. Done.)