Can ear infections spread to your jaw and is it severe if it does?

Inflammation: Inflammation from the ear can spread to that area making it feel like the infection has spread to your jaw. You should have yourself checked for possible treatment.

Your earache can : actually have been referred pain from your throat, the joint of your jaw or a decayed or infected tooth, as those areas share nerves with the eardrum. If your pain is severe, see your dentist & your g.p. urgently, as you may need to see an ENT specialist. If you had an infection of your jawbone, the soft tissue of your cheek or your mastoid, you'd have redness, tenderness, swelling & heat.

Unlikely: Middle ear infections are more or less limited to the middle ear space. The germs therein feed of the mucus which increases during infections. The pain is perceived by the same nerve that supplies your jaw/ teeth & phantom pain can be produced that makes you feel like these are involved. Rarely, middle ear infections break down tissue behind the ear & enter the mastoid air cells causing swelling