My mother in law has been having pain on the temple left hand side which radiates down to her neck . she is 69 years old high blood pressure takes meds only has 1 kidney glaucoma and occasionally has eye pressure issues . why the temple pain?

Elderly female with temporal pain always suggests a condition called temporal arteritis (inflammation of the temporal artery), a treatable condition but complications may occur if diagnosis is missed. With this condition, the temporal area is usually tender and she or you may feel a pulsatile cord in that area. She should see her doctor ASAP and have the eye pressure checked in the mean time.

I agree with Dr. Le's excellent advice. Another possible cause is a nerve impingement of the postauricular nerve at the neck by spurs causing pain to radiate up&in back of the ear to the temple. This is usually a sharp pain. The ophthalmologist can order the blood test( sed rate)& check for temporal arteritis as well as check her eye pressure & refer her to her PCP if these 2 issues are ruled out