Man, I feel your pain, quite literally. After an hour or two of wearing them, my ears hurt in the same areas. I gave up once and bought sennheiser mtw3's to try something new, but the anc on those isn't as good (it's adaptive, and the changing intensity of its anc makes me feel sick). Now, I just kind of ignore the discomfort for the sake of a quieter workplace. Hope you're able to find something that helps, or maybe something else that works better for you.