I wake up because my ears hurt when I sleep on my side. Why is that?

I usually sleep lying flat and looking at the ceiling. I think I developed this habit because sleeping on my side causes pain in my earlobe. I'm sensitive, and the pain in my earlobe wakes me up from sleep. It happens on both the right and left sides. Last night, I was sleeping on my left side, but I woke up because of the pain in my earlobe, so I slept lying flat. My children also sleep lying on their sides, but I wonder why I can't. Could there be something wrong that causes this?