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Unbearable itching in ear

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I have been wearing hearing aids for about 35 years. Over this period I have suffered itching in my right ear, which developed into a form of dermatitis. My doctor prescribed a cortisone cream but using this for a long period has left my ear canal dry and scaly at times. It itches unbearably meaning that I have to remove the aid to scratch it.

Prolonged use of cortisone creams can cause the skin to thin and I think this is what has happened to my ear so I stopped using it. I now use just olive oil when my ear becomes too dry. This help to some extent and I can go for a few hours but the itching always comes back.

Can anyone suggest any remedies to stop this itching?

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There are a couple of oils that help with itch that can be purchased on Amazon and other places. With the dry/scale situation, you might do well with olive oil. It was what my doctor suggested.

Hi @Weirb

i completely understand your problem and I may come as a surprise to you that this could be caused by a different problem all together. Try to find the root cause of the dermatitis.

In my case I had to go to the doctor for stomach and colon problems, in the end it I was allergic to gluten and this was causing rashes all over my body. I’ve eliminated all gluten related meals and I have a huge improvement in quality of life and guess what no dermatitis so far.

Hope this helps, hearing aids are a huge part of my life and professional career. i can’t even think of the idea of not wearing them due to a dermatitis.

Thank you but I think the problem is hearing aid related. I have no other problems that would suggest any intolerance.

In reply to @Jevalladares

@Jevalladares said:

Try to find the root cause of the dermatitis.

Good answer!

@Weirb said:

It itches unbearably meaning that I have to remove the aid to scratch it.

Reminds me of “hot spots” on dogs. i.e. they keep licking a wound to relieve the itch, which irritates the tissues, making them itch. A circular kind of thing. For dogs, you make them wear a head cone so they can’t lick. Have you ever tried keeping the aid and your fingers out of the canal long enough to let it heal?

Yes, I have left the aid out for a few days at a time and with regard to healing, there is nothing to heal. There is no broken skin.

My audiologist told me twice a week to put some baby oil on a couple of cotton balls and put them in my ears for 10 or 15 minutes & then go take a shower.

I modified that a bit. I’ll put a drop of baby oil on a cotton swab and gently spread it around my ear canal (not deep) then use another drop on the other end to do the same with the other ear. After 10 or 15 minutes, I use a clean swab to gently mop up anything that is left.

So far, my way works great with no itching…

Trust me, you can lick this, if it is something called neuro-dermatitis. The itching is nearly always self-induced and aggravated by the hearing aid user’s behavior. First step: stop itching your ear. No more scratching because scratching (though it feels oh-so-wonderful at first) makes it worse. This also means no more car-keys, bobby-pins, q-tips, paperclips - you name it. Cut your nails short. Sit on your hands if you have to. Easy advice to dole out but very difficult to do. For those users who do not have a perforated ear: make a solution of 1/3 vinegar, 1/3 rubbing alcohol and 1/3 boiled and cooled water. Then at night: more or less “wet” your ear and ear-canal entrance for the first week every night before going to bed. then reduce to twice a week (Sun and Wed and stick to it). The itching will be gone soon.
Should the itching could be due to the small rubber domes that move in your ear - ask your audiologist to make a custom made ear-mold- as those small rubber domes have been known to cause itching as well.

First. Make sure with your doctor that you don’t have some form of infection in the skin in your ear. If you are scratching…STOP THAT!

In the absence of a skin infection, I agree with TexasAM, though I would modify his protocol. Get an ear dropper, tilt your head and drop some oil (baby, olive, vegetable…) in your ear. Then pug your ear with a cotton ball right before bed. The oil will absorb overnight and the cotton ball will fall out in your sleep.

Nice thing is, this method will also dissolve the wax from your ears!

Evil.

Wow, that itch that requires me to remove the aid and scratch. Yes, I get it unless I wash the dome on my aids daily. I am fastidious about cleaning my ear canal daily, however, I found when I used molds, the itch always appeared after an hour or so of use.

I almost gave up on hearing aids until I tried Oticon OPN aids with domes instead of molds. I do remove the domes and wash them daily. Yes the domes tend to give a little more feedback, especially when first inserted than molds, but they work so well, and the domes do not itch. So i am actually using the aids all day.

I have moderate to severe bilateral loss so i like a lot of gain. My provider did reduce gain above 4 kHz to almost eliminate feedback. I do use the largest dome available.

I have worked in an audiology practice for 11 years. Our doctors recommend “Eargene”. It is created and used specifically for itching in the ear from hearing aids. Other oils and creams can cause problems with the hearing aid if it is not completely absorbed by the skin when you reinsert your aid; so be careful with those. Also, depending on the type of aid you wear, there are now hypoallergenic and antimicrobial coatings that can be added to the shell or ear mold of hearing aids. If you have a lot of moist flaky skin in your ear, it could also be fungal in nature. This sometimes happens when wearing in-the-ear types of hearing aids. That should be taken care of with your medical doctor. But to prevent it from happening you can use a cleansing wipe by Audiologists Choice made for specifically for hearing aids. Alcohol wipes can cause damage to some shells and ear molds. Your local audiologist should be able to supply both of these products for reasonable price. I hope this information is useful. If you have questions, please let me know.

Bridgette

In reply to @juliette_sterkens_au

@Weirb said:

ordered some Eargene online.

In the case of “Swimmers Ear” wet canals rapidly cause infection which can cause light to severe earache followed by itchy ears. A great product for those of us who swim a lot or who have moist or get moist, sweaty ear canals from non-vented custom molds, is a product we have in Australia called “AquaEar”. It consists of Isopropyl Alcohol which rapidly combines with the moisture and evaporates it, and Acetic Acid to kill the infection.

Aquaear Ear Drops helps prevent and helps treat swimmer’s ear the painful ear infection that often occurs when water is trapped in the ear canal after swimming, bathing, surfing or diving. Aquaear dries up moisture and retards the growth of bacteria.

I wash my ears after swimming and once a week when I don’t swim with soap and rinse with warm water. I dry the outer canal with a tissue and apply 6 drops of Aquaear for 60 seconds per ear. After 5 mins my canals are perfectly dry and happy. No more itching! I love this product. :slight_smile:

Google “Swimmers Ear drops” to find the name of the similar product in your region…Ear Clear, Vorgee, Swim-eze etc…

I should also mention that it is wise to clean your molds/ear domes each day with an anti-bacterial so that you don’t start the day by putting bacterial contamination back into your ear canal…

I use Medical wipes called “Sani Wipes” which are 70% Isopropyl Alcohol.

I’m late to the game here, but in addition to cleaning the ear domes (or actual hearing aid case, if it’s hard shell) with an alcohol prep pad, I’d get a UV sanitizing unit to put the aids in each night. I have a small, travel sized UV sanitizer that I take on trips with me even.

Sanitation is KEY. Next is to STOP itching (as already suggested). You’ll only abrade the skin further and could end up with a cycle of otitis.

I’ve tried some special oils made for ear itch, and they only aggravate the issue for me. Clean and dry but NOT scaly is the goal.

I have only ever used one product for itchy ears “Otomize Ear Spray” I have tried perhaps a dozen or so others to little or no effect, but this is the only one that appears to work for me, the only problem is you can’t buy it over the counter here in the U.K. It has to be proscribed by a doctor and most of the doctors are not happy on dishing it out, tis likely it is expensive or it will most likely be the steroid content “Dexamethasone” that they are not keen to proscrib, I ware 2 x totally occluded hypoallergenic molds and have done for many years, I am in the severe/profound threshold in both ears, I use Otomize very sparingly for obvious reasons, usually once a month or every 6 weeks, I wait until the itching becomes unbearable or I have a raging ear infection, then one spray in either lug and it’s gone in an hour or so… Tis excellent stuff!!! Cheers Kev😜

@kevels55 said:

It has to be proscribed by a doctor and most of the doctors are not happy on dishing it out, tis likely it is expensive or it will most likely be the steroid content “Dexamethasone” that they are not keen to proscrib,

Yes, you have to be careful with steroid drugs, as it suppresses the body’s natural immune reactions! You could end up with a nasty infection … such as I had years ago when I applied a steroid cream to my NAVAL when it was red & inflamed. I only made it worse till I cleared it up with bacitracin (which I’d also NEVER use in the ear canal with a smothering aid covering it all day). Ear itchies and infections are pretty much only cured with NO aids in. And how’s that supposed to work when we need to wear them? Hence my occasional dilemma. I’m actually allergic to any and all hypo-allergenic mold materials used for hearing aids.

Update.

Since my original post I took Bridgette’s advice and purchased some Eargene. I managed to find it online for £4.50. A combination of this plus more regular cleaning of the aids using simple wipes seems to have improved the situation. It’s not fixed but it is much better, I think still improving and the dryness in my ear has improved.

Thank you for all the suggestions.

I bought a product called ProEar which was recommended here on the forum. Acting on the premise that the dome was moving back and forth as I talked or chewed, I chose to lightly lubricate the dome with the ProEar. Just a single drip on the fingertip then rubbing it with the thumb to thin it out before rubbing it on the widest part of the dome. Seems to help the dome find it’s “place”.

I can’t stress enough that not much oil is needed and that too much will certainly get into the receiver and adversely effect it. I would say my domes are merely damp around the widest part not wet. The idea is to lubricate the dome so it doesn’t stick to the ear canal.

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