What Causes Itchy Ears And How To Treat It?

The ears are small and highly sensitive than the other body organs. They are easily exposed to external environmental agents like bacteria and viruses. They may affect the ears and may cause itching inside the ears.

Itchy ears are common but not usually a harmful condition. Fungal infection, allergic reactions, and skin diseases such as dermatitis can cause itchy ears. You can get relief by consulting your doctor. You can also treat Itchy ears with some home remedies.

Symptoms Of Itchy Ears

Patents with itchy ears have irritation inside the ears. The other symptoms that accompanies itching are;

• High body temperature
• Discharge of waste from the ear.
• Swelling and inflammation

Cause Of Itchy Ears

1. Dry Ears

Your ears produce sticky material such as oil and wax. The production of oil and wax is normal for your body. The waxes and oils provide protection and lubrication to your ear. It keeps the ear clean and healthy. If a person keeps cleaning the ears too much, it can clear all the wax and cause itchy ears.

2. Food Sensitivity/Allergies

People may experience itchy ears when they have allergies to food. Food that may result in allergies are wheat, nuts, milk, fish, soy, apple, cherries, almonds, and hazelnuts.

3. Skin Diseases

When people have any skin condition, they might experience rough patches on the inside ears or ear lobes. Skin diseases include dermatitis, eczema, or psoriasis.

4. Earwax Blockage

Earwax helps to keep ears clean from dead cells and debris. Earwax naturally sheds off from the ear over time. People insert objects like bobby pins, pencils, twisted cloth, cotton swabs, toothpicks into the ear canal. This may cause blockage of the ear and cause bacteria to grow. The resulting infection may cause itching.

5. Ear Infections

Bacterial and virus are the common reason for ear infection. An ear infection may also occur when people have a cold or flu. The use of sharp objects like keys or matchsticks to clean the inner ear also cause trauma in the ear. It can damage the bones of the ears and increase the risk of hearing loss. A chronic ear infection may result in itching.

6. Hearing Aids

Hearing aids can cause itchy ears due to the plastic material used in their manufacturing. Trapping of water inside the ear due to the use of a hearing aid may also result in itchy ears.

7. Hay Fever

Common particles that can trigger hay fever are pollen, animal fur or dust particles present in the air. These particles easily cause itchy ears along with watery eyes, sneezing or running nose. Hay fever is also known as Allergic Rhinitis.

8. Swimmer’s Ear

Due to frequent swimming, water may trap inside the ear. The ear with trapped water is highly susceptible to bacterial growth. It can cause infection with such and the patient may have discharge of fluid from the ear, pain in the ear and inflammation around the ear.

Treatment For Itchy Ears

Following are the various options to manage itchy ears;

1. Moisturizing Ear Drops

Administration of moisturizing ear drops to treat the dry skin of the ear canal can treat itchy ears. Patients may also use cotton swabs to clean gently by taking precautions.

2. Antibiotic Ear Drops

These ear drops kill the pathogens that cause infection. Antifungal drops can be used for managing swelling around the outer ear due to fungal infection.

3. Ear Syringing

When earwax blocks the canal, the use of the ear syringing technique can be implemented to remove the blockage.

Home Remedies

Use of Olive oil or Baby oil moisturizes the ears and reduces itching.

When To Seek Doctor Help

In some cases, people can easily treat itchy ear conditions with some home remedies. Consult your doctor if;

• The itchy ear can’t be treated with these home remedies.
• There is severe bleeding from the ears.
• There is drainage from the ears.
• The patient experiences ear pain and ringing of ears.

Prevention

The risk of itchy ear or ear infection can be reduced through some preventive measures. These are:

By not inserting certain objects like toothpicks, cotton, pencil, bobby pins, ear candles, matchsticks and cloth.

People can consult with a specialist to resolve the problem of earwax.

People can wear earplugs while swimming to get protection from swimmer’s ear condition. They can also use clean towels to dry the outer ear.

Rohit Jain

Rohit Jain is an IPR Specialist and Medical Content Writing Expert. For over a decade, he has written several articles in the areas of female infertility, Erectile dysfunction, hemangioma, cervical cancer, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, mononucleosis, mitral valve disorder, shin splints, mild cognitive impairment, cellulitis, lymphoma, sepsis, cardiac rehabilitation and more.