Hear ye, hear ye — it’s very common for the ear canal, the tube that runs from the opening of your ear to your eardrum, to feel itchy from time to time. There are a bunch of things that can be blamed for such, and this article will talk about some of the most common ones.
Do you usually spot some family members and friends of yours scratching their ears? Then make sure that you share this article on your different social media sites later on to get them acquainted, too, with some of the probable reasons behind the issue.
Ear Infection
One of the most common causes for having ears that feel itchy is an infection. There’s a form of ear infection that’s referred to as swimmer’s ear. Just because you are not a swimmer or you hate jumping into a swimming pool doesn’t mean that you are impervious to it — swimmer’s ear can affect anybody that engages in activities involving water, like taking a shower or bath or using a hot tub.
Sometimes an ear infection may be due to bacteria or viruses that have invaded and infected the ear canal.
Unnecessary Ear Cleaning
Perhaps you have heard or read somewhere that your ear canal is self-cleaning — it can get rid of excess earwax. It’s for this reason why it’s really unnecessary for you to clean your ears on a regular basis.
Especially if you are fond of cleaning your ears using objects such as a toothpick, matchstick, paper clip or hairpin, then you are risking ending up with an infected ear canal, which is something that can cause itching. Such can happen if you accidentally break the skin of your ear canal and it becomes infected.
Skin Allergies
Your ear canal is covered with skin just like most other parts of your body. If you tend to have an unfavorable skin reaction to certain substances or compounds, then it’s not unlikely for your ear canal to react to such allergen in the same way. Needless to say, it’s possible for your ears to itch as a result of an allergy.
Be very observant if your ears feel itchy every now and then. Does it happen after using hairspray or shampoo? Does it strike each time you are wearing a particular pair of earring? Identifying the culprit is very important.
Food Allergies
It’s also very important for you to carefully monitor what you put in your mouth especially if you have certain food allergies that manifest in the form of skin itching. If it can make various body parts of yours feel itchy, then it can make your ear canal itch like crazy as well.
Most of the time, you don’t need to seek treatment — steering clear of your known food allergies is enough to keep at bay itchiness of the ear canal and also other parts of your body.
Eczema
Do you have the skin condition called eczema? If yes, there’s always this possibility that the reason why your ears are feeling itchy is because of it.
The good news is such can be controlled in the same way that you manage the skin problem on any other area of your body — keeping stress to a minimum, avoiding scratching, steering clear of irritants and supplementing with fish oil. There are also OTC drops that can help you attain much-needed relief from eczema of the ear canal.
WARNING: If the problem persists for days, tends to worsen or is accompanied by some other unusual signs or symptoms such as the presence of discharge, a feeling of pressure inside the ears, muffled hearing, tinnitus (a ringing or buzzing sound in the ear) or dizziness, make sure that you pay an ENT specialist a visit as soon as possible.
