Caught early, the home-made drops of vinegar and alcohol may correct it, but people often need prescription antibiotic drops. The ear canal skin is paper thin and right over bone, and even scratching with a Q-tip causes enough trauma to allow the fungus and bacteria normally in our ear canals to get under the skin of the ear canal, causing Swimmer’s Ear, also known as otitis externa. Although a moist ear is more likely to become infected, the main culprit in Swimmer’s Ear is actually Q-tips, which can rough up the delicate skin of the ear canal, and other attempts to scratch the ear canal. Swimmer’s Ear is an infection of the ear canal. Hydrogen peroxide to dissolve wax can also be mixed with the vinegar and alcohol, giving you an inexpensive home-made treatment that gets rid of the itch, dries the ears, and dissolves wax. This will take care of the itch, and also dries out the ear. If your ear is moist and itchy, mix vinegar 50:50 with rubbing alcohol. Several drops of half-strength vinegar several times a day in the ears takes care of most itchy ears. White vinegar is a weak acid that, mixed 50:50 with water in an empty dropper bottle (available at drug stones), destroys most fungal and bacterial growth in the ears. Itchy ears are usually caused by fungal and bacterial growth in the ear canal, but can also sometimes be caused by allergies. Some people need to come in every year or so for ear cleaning. As we age, the wax gets thicker, and it is harder for the wax to come out on its own, especially for men who grow more hair in their ear canals as they age. When the ear gets plugged with wax, please make an appointment with us, and let us clean out the ear in the office. This may get rid of smaller particles of wax, but is unlikely to get rid of large cerumen impactions. Most kits also come with irrigation to flush out the ear after softening the wax. If the ear does become packed with wax, you can purchase ear wax softening drops, such as Debrox, to soften and partially dissolve the wax. Do not allow bath water or shower water into the ears, as this irritates the ear lining. Never push the Q-tip deep into the ear canal, as this only pushes the wax deep, and the Q-tip becomes a ‘ramrod’. Q-tips should only be used at the openings of the ears, and in a circular motion. Ear wax is only made in the outer 1/3 of the ear canal, and it naturally drifts outwards, where it dries and flakes at the opening to the ear. Generally speaking, the ears are designed to take care of themselves.
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