Charlie Sheen -- And the REAL STORY is ... Ear Infection

Charlie Sheen -- contrary to the buzz that's going around H-Wood -- is NOT hospitalized for drug issues -- he's back on the set of "Anger Management" after battling a nasty ear infection.

Not to say Charlie isn't back to partying hard -- our sources say he's definitely doing that. But here's the deal with C.S. He flew Sam and Lola to NYC Saturday to spend some time with mama Denise Richards, then flew back the next day. That was just enough to trigger an ear infection, which benched Charlie from the set Tuesday.

Charlie is back to work today and at the time of this post he's doing a table read for his show.

BTW, Charlie has ear problems. Charlie had a really bad ear infection last year that was hard to shake.