A friend of mine had the same problem. Eventually a lot of nasty muck came out of the hole where her earring was. Seems a speck of dirt from her job had gone into the pierced hole and created a type of boil in the lobe flesh. Keep your earrings out and get some antibiotics when you can.
I had this a few months ago, it felt like a really small pea under the skin. I wasn't worried because it had appeared overnight, and after a few days it disappeared and my ear went back to normal.