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Recurring Preauricular Pit/Discharge

My son is 5 yrs old and has had 3 operations on a preauricular pit.  His last operation was when he was 1.5 yrs old.  Now 5 and the scar, which never healed properly and had post-op infections resistant to antibiotics has now started discharging small amounts of pus and irritating him, going red and hurting him when I massage the area to try and get any discharge out.

Discharge is coming from the original pit site as well as the 2 tiny holes left by the stitches from the operations, discharge can vary from quite solidified and white to runny with some colour to it.

We are now booked in for a 4th and final operation (hopefully) this time the paeditrician will remove the underlying cartilage and use methylene blue (not sure if this will work considering the pit has been operated on already).  I suppose I want an ENT opinion or other persons experience.  Will this 4th op work considering cartilage is being removed, what else can we do?  This is a very traumatic issue for us and so very terribly painful to my son.  I live in Australia and hope this site can provide some info to me, I just don't know where else to go for assistance.
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Avatar universal
Mine got infected twice when I was 16 and 18 years old. My ENT gave me antibiotics and it made my pit swell and burst. A lot of puss came out and I just hot compressed it as what the dr. suggested. She also gave me ointment for the wound to heal but it left me a scar. Sometimes it becomes itchy and white discharge comes out. Is white discharge normal or a sign of infection?
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Avatar universal
I also have an ear pit.  I never had any problems until now and I'm 58.  Recently it became infected.  I tried to treat it at home, went to the clinic because it was so painful. The dr. there drained it but when I woke up the next morning my face was swollen so I went to the emergency.  The dr. there drained it again and sent me to a plastic surgeon for follow up.  This has been going on since January.  It got re-infected and after a second round of antibiotics I am having it removed next week. Hope everything goes ok.
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Avatar universal
I wanted to provide an update on my sinus infection and what I've learned throughout this miserable journey. I had my operation done 3 weeks ago. No more infection so far (according to my doctor), putting an end to my 2 year suffering. If you live in Montreal or nearby, I highly recommend Dr. John Manoukian who is an expert on this issue.

Don't waste time seeing different doctors who will only prescribe you antibiotics. If it doesn't end the infection on your first prescription, there's no point taking another round of antibiotics. I've taken so many of them, and it didn't cure the infection.

The only way to cure it is to have the sinus tract COMPLETELY removed. Otherwise it remains infected or reoccurs. The key is that you find a surgeon who has extensive experience, not some random surgeon or dermatologist.

I'll have to see my doctor again in 6 months to make sure everything is ok. Hopefully, it won't come back again.

I wish good luck to everyone. It's a real pain, and there's not enough ENT doctors who know how to deal with it. Less than 2% of the population has this problem, and only 10% of the 2% will have their preauricular pit infected.

Feel free to ask questions. I can also provide an update in the future if anyone is interested
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1 Comments
Hi, I;m from London and Im 19 years old. My sinus only got infected for the first time in my life mid November 2015 and now we are in January 2016 and Im still dealing with it as every ent specialist I have seen is incompetent with dealing with it. I am a professional tennis player therefore having this consistent infection stops me from training. Theyve given me countless antibiotics and cut it twice to drain it. They messed up the second time with cutting it and they created a huge abscess on the side of my face. I am now trying some homeopathic remedies and it seems to be healing nicely. But I am scared that once I start training again and sweating that it will get infected again? Can anyone give me some advice from experience. Thank you
Avatar universal
Hi,

My 4 year old daughter has the same condition, do you know the name of the professor who is experienced in doing the surgery in Sydney or does anyone know a good ENT in Australia??
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Avatar universal
I know people who have never had problems with their pits, my father and grandfather. At one point in their lives they worked in mucky environments, but I guess their pits were more cosmetic? Unfortunately,  I was born with pits in both ears, both have been infected and I had my left one completely removed as a child. I'm guessing it was done by an experienced surgeon as I have not had any problems with it since. The only reminder that I have of it is a tiny scar hidden behind my hairline and the stitches that my sister kept o.O
My right pit still gives me problems, but it takes just a few seconds to clean it once every few days.
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Avatar universal
I'm 26 years old, and my preauricular pit has been infected since June 2013. I've taken two types of antibiotics, overall 35 pills since then. It stopped being infected for about a month after I took the last pill, and then it started again. I have to drain it every 3 or 4 days.

I'm tired of going to the doctor and prescribed more antibiotics. Does anyone know home made remedies, homeopathic pills or whatever? How did people in the past (before antibiotics were invented) treat such infection?

I know Apis Mel has been suggested, but can anyone provide more details?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hello, i have been searching for an alternative to surgical removal of the pit as i have had one done less than a month ago and now have an infected sinus again. Could you please give more detail about the Apis Mel your pediatrician suggested? Was it a 6x, 12X or 30X? Any detail would help.
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Avatar universal
My daughter's pit did not present a problem until this summer at age 16. It became abscessed, and we've been dealing with the infection since May 12th (now September 13th). The GP didn't know much about it, so after several non successful prescriptions of antibiotics and pain medicine, the pain was so severe we went to the hospital. I can't believe how much junk came out of the incision once it was cut. Surgery to remove the pit/tract is scheduled for Dec., but it can't be performed as long as there is infection, which makes the surgery too difficult to be successful. They want her to be infection free so the site is calm for several weeks before surgery. She has had two hospital admissions and 3 drainage tubes, which because of the scar tissue, can not be done again. The next step is a picc line to get rid of the infection. If you have a child where surgery is the option, I recommend it, because I feel once the infection becomes abscessed, it's nearly impossible to get rid of it. Good luck to anyone making this decision and to the individuals dealing with the pain. My other advice is to insist upon general anesthesia if you don't have health risks.
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Avatar universal
Hi can you give me the name of this professor in Sydney who successfully operated on your sinus? Many thanks!
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Avatar universal
Thanks a lot for posting about Apis Mel.
It worked for my Son.

Thanks a lot once again.
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Avatar universal
do you have any ENT recommendation?
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What do do mean by inactive?
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Avatar universal
My daughters Dr also told me to drain the pit by simple 'popping' whenever it seems full. It doesn't bother her and I do it daily whenever she is nursing :) He recommended doing this to keep the buildup to a minimum and avoid there becoming a clog. We would not opt for any surgery unless there was a SEVERE problem or infection present.
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Avatar universal
Hi , i am 18, i live in Sydney Australia, i had problems with preauricular sinuses too. i had 3 operations all three were unsuccessful, these things are a massive headache if not taken care of and treated the right ways. If the infections happen to come back again and keep coming back then i would advise you to take Keflex to stop the infections as soon as it starts the first little signs of infections (it helped me alot with stopping the infections). Recently on the 4th of December i had a successful operation done and it is now all cleared up. i advise if you are going to have a operation on this problem, then have it operated by a surgeon that has operated on these problems and make sure he has alot of experience. My last operation was operated by a professor in sinuses and i think that if you live in Australia and are willing to get rid of them problems then you should see this guy.
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3489276 tn?1347456801
Would like to know your Surgeon in the Philippines.i had mine operated in Manila 4yrs ago and just keep coming back.when i moved in the U.S have this problem ever since went to 3 doctors where they don't have an idea about this and one of my plastic surgeon wont even touch it sound scary would like to go back to the Philippines and have this operated again but definately not going back to the same surgeon i had 4yrs ago.Appreciate the help.
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Avatar universal
Hi, my 20 months have the same issue with pus forming in the pit and like you I have been releasing it when it appear 'full'. Since your post has been 3 years now, I'm wondering if your daughter's condition has improved or you have taken a different approach.
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Avatar universal
May I have the pd's name n contact no. urgently. My daughter is just 1 1/2 years old n facing the same problem.
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Avatar universal
thanks so much for being the only person I could find to post a home remedy. I too have two pits, one on the left is 'active'. Had a crappy ENT supposedly 'remove' it in Del Mar, CA. Don't go to her, forgot her name cynthia something or other...
anyway, it became terribly infected and I was in horrible pain for a week. Once it healed, the discharge was still there.
I'll try this method using colidial silver, and am already taking turmeric and zinc for another cyst problem. turmeric for boils and cysts seems to draw things to a locus, so will see if this helps draw out the pus maybe using a poltice at night under a bandage.
Also like what another poster said about cleaning and squeezing it daily in the shower. will try to remember to do this too.
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Avatar universal
You should find yourself a good homeopath.  I am a homeopath and have treated someone with great success who has  preauricular earpits.  Definitely worth looking into.  Go to the National Center for Homeopathy website and look for recommended homeopaths in your area.  
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Avatar universal
can i know who the doctor is?
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How do you extract the pus?
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Avatar universal
Hello,
My 1 and half year daugther has got preauricular sinus problem. she has gone through 4 course of antibiotics in the period of 2 month and now we r afraid of giving another antibiotic. and we also don't want to got for operation/surgery as it is not 100% curable and it may reoccur.
Right now we are applying home remedies to take the pus out.

Could you plz give the refrence of ur doctor.
or tell me the complete thing what you have done to cure ur daughter's problem.
Thanks.
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Avatar universal
I am a 42 year old woman who also has a preauricular pit on my right ear. I didn't know it actually had a name to it until today. I have asked many doctors over my life time, should i be concern about it but none of them even knew what it was or tried to find out. Over the years it has just been normal routine of extracting the pus every other week so i won't have it discharge on it's own in public because it smells and it just looks nasty. As long as i maintain it like anything else i'm fine.
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Avatar universal
My daughter had the same problem when she was a year old. She suffered constant infections for months and went on several antibiotics (some of which she was allergic to which led to other problems). The pit would not stay healed more than 2 weeks following an antibiotic regimen. The ENT recommended surgery which is more dangerous on a younger child he told me because of a main artery that runs down the side of the face and is close to the ear in younger patients. If that artery is cut, the patient will be paralyzed on that side of the face. He also informed me that the surgery becomes even more risky if the infection hasn't healed for at least 2 months. Then I read online about several unsuccessful surgery stories. Not very comforting for a parent having to make a decision that could affect their child for the rest of her life.
I was blessed at the time to have a pediatrician who utilizes both traditional and homeopathic methods of healing. My daughter was put on 3 tiny homeopathic pills (Apis Mel) 2x a day. The pills taste like sugar and dissolve in the mouth so even a small child can take them. She is six years old and has never gotten another infection, nor drainage or oozing.
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