Endlessly itchy wet ears

[SimplyMe2007]

Since I was a child I have had ear problems but over the past few years I have had increasingly maddening ear problems.  I have used drops and anti biotics.  I sense relief then the symptoms return.  Most days I can hear but am constantly aware that my ears are itchy.  The challenge is to not itch.  If I itch, I usually get flaky stuff that I literally can lift off my inner ear.If I itch too much it becomes wet and begins draining a wet clear fluid.  Then at night, whatever side I lay on clogs shut.  In the morning there is thick crusty crud that again I try not to pick at.  Im obviously in continual circle of symptoms here.  Dr's seem to think I cause this problem by itching which causes infection which causes itchiness. HELP please?  I am open to homeopathic suggestions as mainstream medicine just seems to temporarily relieve the symptoms and not cure the cause.  Thanks in advance

[irebel]

Misery love company :) I too get itchy ears. We moved and are on well water now. I have a salt water softener installed but still plagued with itchy ears (if not made it worse). Since the move my ears are driving me insane.
I believe it is a combination of things that causes this. Eczema, allergies, a fungal bacteria and dry skin.
It seems to me the Doctors don't take me very seriously probably because I don't whine and cry enough.    
First think I do is to plug my ears so water doesn't get in when I shower.
Old habits are hard to get rid of. I still often just jump in the shower and forget the ear plugs :) Make sure you dry you ears with a Q-tip to get all the moisture out of you ears.
I use a mixture of 50/50 alcohol and vinegar one drop for each ear as many times as it feels good. Sometimes that is all I need to get rid of the itch and other times I need more.
I use polysporin and sometime I have made my own cream up with 50/50 polysporin and Hydrocortisone Cream. It too works pretty good.

I caught this horrible cold and with it my ears started driving me crazy. It was really bad... one of my worse episode I have ever had... I tried everything above but couldn't get the itching to stop. This time I tried the tea tree oil. It helped a bit but still was itching bad... so I put the alcohol/vinegar drops in also about 15 minutes after the tea tree oil.
My ears starter to get really sore and I thought to myself. oh oh how you really over did it this time. Wow they really did sting :) but about a minute or two after it subsided and believe it or not I didn't have a problem with my ears for the rest of the day. All I know is that the cure is not a exact science but this is very close and it works for me.

[swalk56]

Have suffered for many years with ear problems and benign positional vertigo which may be the cause of the dizziness some have mentioned here.  Please stop putting objects in your ears.  Haven't you heard 'don't put anything in your ear bigger than your elbow'.  It seems that many fellow sufferers make their condition worse by what is placed in their ears and the biggest NO NO is Qtips.  You must see a Ear Nose and Throat specialist to try and have your problem diagnosed.  If and when they are of no help then maybe try SOME of what others are doing as mentioned in this thread.  My ENT prescribed CIPROXIN HC ear drops.  Fantastic.  

[KWS76]

I ran across this page so many times when I would endlessly search for a cure for my itchy ears -- they lasted for 16 months and made me absolutely miserable. Went to 2 GPs, an NP, accupuncturist, two ENTs, a dermatologist, did numerous cleanses and tried everything natural and medical in the book including high doses of diflucan and finally a 3rd ENT was able to help me! I swore to myself I'd go back on the pages and let everyone know the answer for future googlers. :-)

The athlete's foot Lotrimin drops gave me a horrible reaction, and I tried many other anti-fungal lotions -- but they just never got down in there far enough. The ENTs swore to me there was nothing else I could try (okay, point being, this was really bad)

The answer for me was an Rx for CLOTRIMAZOLE-BETAMETHASONE LOTION. It's a thin enough lotion that it actually slid down into my ear.

I'm not sure many doctors would think of it, since the first two ENTs didn't. (one of them prescribed me oral nystatin b/c he claimed there were no other drops to try -- as in a sticky sugary substance to put in my ear!! Say what?!?!)

So good luck to anyone else out there experiencing it. This was a nightmare for me that I am so, so thankful was finally resolved.

[jonas1495]

...... And try to get to the next phase after those slight crusts, which noticeably formed. I figured anything would heal given enough time.
it worked. My left ear is almost 100% and my right the same apart from the loube which i want to.start this process on. Though both feel vulnerable to the same again and a dryness slightly forms by morning.
Of course I also stopped the itching because i wanted this to go away. Its a sensation almost as if in the ear as when you distort the ear folds etc you can feel something. This doesn't happen with cleared areas, the affected loube us by far the most.tempting itch area at present.

hope this helps, may have left stuff out as I'm sneakily doing this on my phone at work but am happy to help with any queries as i was as desparate a few months back

good luck guys

[jonas1495]

Hi everyone
i feel i have to share some info with you that may well help as it worked for me.
I woke in the middle of the night 5-6months back with intensely itchy ears, itched them and.left subsequent damage assuming just scratches however like people on here it would not heal and if disturbed from dryness leaked a lot,.for hours and when dried had that thin white crust that falls off easily re-beginning the process. My GP was little use and struggled t find info on line, still don't know what it is/was.

Anyway i decided to put plasters over the areas affected and keep them there for as long as could - figuring it wouldn't.get disturbed that way and fall odf

[Macogrl]

Lol, I was waiting for PappoDillio to try to sell me a vacuum cleaner or duct cleaning.

In all seriousness, I do believe in my case it's allergy related, perhaps seasonal. I definitely notice the itch and drainage intensifies after I eat certain foods.

I've tried nearly all the meds mentioned on this board and my infection may clear up temporarily, but it always comes back.

I need to try the medicated aquaphor. If it works, it might be a cheap way to control it. Some of my meds have cost over $200 per prescription.