Sorry for such a late reply, I have not been on this site for months.
While I still suffer from this problem, it is significantly reduced. My ENT was never able to resolve anything, he simply kept trying all sorts of different things without any particular diagnosis of the problem.
However, my dermatologist did make a diagnosis. I have sporadic bouts of dermatitis, primarily on my scalp. When I told my dermatologist about the condition he looked at my ears and told me that the same or similar problem was causing the problems in my ears. There is no "cure" for the dermatitis, but I have kept it under control with various prescription solutions. Initially, I took the dermatologists recommendation and began using some of those solutions on the outer part of my ear canal and this significantly reduced the problem.
I found a new ENT and shared all of the above with him. He now has me on a few prescriptions to better deal with the problem. One is steroid drops that I put into my ears nightly and the other is a nasal inhaler meant primarily for allergy relief. I do not have the specific prescription names with me ... I will post later.
The end result of this is that I now can manage the situation fairly well and visit my ENT every 2 to 6 months for a review and often for a "cleaning".
Were you helped?
I seem to have the same problem.
Jacob
Below is a link with information:
http://www.ihsinfo.org/IhsV2/Hearing_Professional/2004/040_July-August/020_Importance_Keratin_Layer.cfm
The email address in the previous post did not show. Go to http://digicare.org/staff.htm and you will find his email address.
Contact Dr. Max Chartrand @ Tel: 866-864-6449 or ***@****
I'm certain he will be able to help you and others. Today I went to see him and he helped me with similar issue. He is a specialist in ears, not just an ENT, but a researcher.