I would never allow a doctor to syringe my ear and especially not when it is painful! Syringing is pretty much never done these days as it can damage the eardrum and if you have an ongoing ear infection at the moment, so much the worse.

I would try to see another doctor and ask for an ear examination. If s/he says the eardrum looks swollen or inflamed then you have an ear infection and you need antibiotics. It may just be catarrh in the eustachian tubes, though, which can sometimes be shifted with lots of steam inhalation and a good decongestant.

Meantime, take lots of hot drinks as they can help move catarrh too. Do not go back to work till you have seen another doctor for examination and do not be tempted to put ANYTHING in your ear!

My daughter gets similar paiin and actually can't hear very well when it happens. I don't know if you have the same thing. She is 7 years old and every 6 months to a year she has gone to the doctor for this. They always tell her it is excess wax and rinse her ears out (just squirt some stuff in them). Each time they would tell me to put over the counter ear drops in her ears once a week to help the wax drain out on it's own. I forget to do this a lot, which is probably terrible of me. However, I am going to be more careful now because the last time we were in they really hurt her one ear when they squirted this water solution in there. You may have excess wax but I would get a second opinion before letting any doctor put anything else in there. Do you have any hearing loss when you get this pain?