Living the Itching Ear Nightmare!

Itchy flaky ear!

Few things can be as annoying as ITCHING EARS!.  The ear canal skin subject to various skin inflammatory conditions such as psoriasis or seborrheic keratitis.  This can lead the skin to be dry and flaky.  Dry flaky skin in the ear canal can make noises when he chew, can crunch, can block the eardrum, can vibrate, and because sound sensitivity.  Sometimes a loss of oil gland function in the ear canal can contribute to this.  This will lead us to want to scratch at the itchy ears or wiggle that your tragus back-and-forth to try to scratch the ears.  Sometimes the depth of itching can be very deep or medial making it almost feel almost like the middle of the head is itching or even the back of the throat is itching when it is actually the ear canals.

 

At its worst he can get swelling drainage and even secondary infection from the ear canal skin.  This often can get infected with bacteria or even fungus/yeast.  This can drain, smell bad, and contribute to hearing loss.  It is highly annoying and difficult to deal with.

Many people feel that washing out the ears is helpful.  IT IS NOT! In reality washing the ears with soap and water and trying to scratch them with Q-tips or some of the worst things that you can do for the long-term.  While it is okay to dry the ears gently with a Q-tip or Kleenex or dry washcloth, I do not recommend actually scratching them as you may do more damage to the skin surface and promote further infections.

 

We usually recommend good ear hygiene with some lubricating oil drops sometimes prescription anti-inflammatory medications, and of course treating any infection may secondarily be present.  Keep your ears clean!