Nice images,
I note that your patient is young (45) and female.
It looks like a case of TIPIC (Transient perivascular inflammation of the carotid artery system)
It is also known as carotidynia or Fay syndrome
It is self limiting and should resolve in a couple of weeks.
Steroids may be used to treat the condition and there have been some papers linking it to covid.
I think the appearance is fairly typical.
It is painful on palpation (like your case) and usually around the bifurcation (like your case)
Check out this website page which has some nice details.
https://radiopaedia.org/articles/carotidynia
Steve.