Why is my ear crusty
Got Itchy, Crusty Ears? (Yuck!) - Dermatologist's Tips [2019]
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have you struggled with a really vexing
almost insatiable itch in your ear canal
and/or crusting on your ears or behind
your ears that seems to have a life of
its own hi I'm board-certified
dermatologist and skin wellness expert
dr. Cynthia Bailey and I've treated each
Inge and crusting of the ear skin for
years in my dermatology practice in fact
before I was a dermatologist my dad had
this problem once it became a
dermatologist I helped him with it
itching and crusting of the ear skin is
actually really common there are two
main conditions that cause it one is
seborrhoeic dermatitis and the second is
psoriasis the good news is you don't
actually need to know which of those
conditions you have because the
treatment is similar first I want to
tell you that in both of those
conditions the problem with the skin is
happening up here the flaking and
scaling happens from the top of the skin
here and the inflammation is occurring
here and here so you actually have a
rash and an inflammatory process in the
skin that's leading to a never-ending
production of scale the scale can
accumulate on the outside of your ear
skin or behind your ear skin it can also
accumulate in your ear canal where you
have tiny little hairs and when that
scale
tickles those little hairs the itch is
absolutely insane making and so the
problem actually starts as an
inflammatory rash that leads to the
downstream experience you have of a
vexing itch in the ear canal and the
accumulation of scale that you see which
actually represents a byproduct of the
rash both conditions seborrhoeic
dermatitis and psoriasis are treated
similarly first we use as dermatologists
medicated cleansers that will leave a
little medicated residue on the skin
after you've rinsed them off to help
treat the
dition the ingredient options to choose
from are often present in soaps or
cleansing bars and they include
salicylic acid which is a beta hydroxy
acid that will help to remove the scale
from the skin pura theone zinc which is
probably functioning as an antimicrobial
to help diminish the growth of
pittosporum yeast that plays a role in
this condition my preference is a
shampoo but it can also be used as a bar
nicer ill or ketoconazole is another
anti yeast medicine that is present in
shampoos you can purchase
over-the-counter and also addresses the
pitter is foreign yeast and then lastly
there's tar tar products are
time-honoured they've been around for a
long time they come with the interesting
tar like odor that doesn't entirely wash
off and that can stain fabric
whichever medicated cleanser you choose
I actually have instructed my patients
to use it on a washcloth I like a fine
baby washcloth but actually can make all
the little creepy creases and curves of
your ear so that you're able to wash the
skin in a way that allows you to debride
which means remove some of the built-up
scale if you're finding that the scale
is really stubborn and isn't coming off
within a week or so you can encourage it
with an oil treatment and how you do
that is 30 minutes or so before you go
into the shower apply oil to the skin of
your ear and maybe even a little bit
down your ill ear canal and my favorite
oils are coconut oil which has a little
antimicrobial function to it mineral oil
which is easy to obtain and olive oil so
you put those on and you let them sit on
your skin 30 minutes before you get into
the shower then wash them off well with
whatever cleansing agent you normally
use on your skin and your last lathering
would be with that medicated cleanser on
that fine or thin washcloth and then let
that sit for five minutes or so while
you do your other business
in the shower and before exiting the
shower rinse the cleanser off knowing
that it's going to leave a little bit of
the active ingredient on your skin to
help treat the condition between
showering if that's not sufficient you
can add a topical medicine that's
available over-the-counter to treat the
condition my first choice would be
clotrimazole which is an anti yeast
antifungal and you can apply that just a
little bit in the ear canal don't put
too much or you're going to tickle those
hairs as the product warms and melts to
your skin so a little bit of
clotrimazole in the ear canal you can
apply clotrimazole on the folds of the
ear skin as well if that doesn't seem to
do it you can add over-the-counter 1%
hydrocortisone
but hydrocortisone is a cortisone and
there's a potential side effect with any
cortisone applied to the skin so if
things aren't turning around quickly
it's time to ask your doctor for help
with that the important point is just
like my dad don't stick something down
there and scratch the itch because
there's a population of microbes that
live in your ear canal that are a little
bit different and if they're given an
opportunity to infect your skin because
you've stuck something sharp down there
and scratched your skin and created what
we call a portal of entry they can cause
a skin infection that is very difficult
to treat
so don't scratch your skin resist the
temptation and instead treat your
itching and crusting ear problem with
the medicated cleansers that I mentioned
so I hope that helps if it did I always
love a thumbs up if you if you know
someone that has this condition please
share the video with them and I'd be
really interested to know what oils you
found helpful for soothing the itching
and crusting of the ears and removing
all of the scale there's a number of
interesting botanical oils out there and
I'd love to hear your stories so thank
you very much
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