Olive Oil and Crusty Ears - more advice please!

Savvy_Sue

My thanks to all those who advised me so helpfully about Putting olive oil into my son's ears - advice?

He thinks he is now hearing better, and I'd say he is responding more often to my dulcet tones.

However he now says his ears feel 'crusty'. And there does appear to be a build up of something stuck to his ears. Which could be discharges of dried wax, or his eczema flaring up again. Certainly not the beautifully moisturised surface you'd expect from a daily dose of olive oil and vaseline.

He hasn't reacted in the past to vaseline - it was my emollient of choice when they were younger as at least one of them was allergic to E34 - so what shall I do next?

a) drag him back to the GP and hope I get someone who can get more out of him than "I dunno"?

b) leave off the oil and vaseline and see what happens?

He's had impetigo in the past (ears, knees, elbows) which is no fun at all: it's nowhere near as bad as that was and I'd rather not go there again!

elona

He may need an antifungal ointment and you could try your chemist if you do not want to go to the doctor.

Or you could try bathing the skin in a solution of hot water with a few drops of tea tree essential oil mixed with it.
Good luck and I will be interested to know how you got on.

Caterina

Hi

Modified this message because I wrote at lenght about glue ear thinking that your boy was very young, instead then I read your original post and realised that all I had written does not apply.... sorry!

Hope he is ok.

Just as a curiosity: if you infuse a bit of garlic in the olive oil (and strain before use) you might find it is a good antifungal too - but it smells!

Caterina

Savvy_Sue

Modified this message because I wrote at lenght about glue ear thinking that your boy was very young, instead then I read your original post and realised that all I had written does not apply.... sorry!

Hope he is ok.

Didn't see the original, but no worries! He's absolutely fine, I probably wouldn't worry except that my big brother lost his hearing some time before my son's age, no-one really knows why, but I've insisted that a close check be kept on hearing as a result. It was only during one particularly entertaining Sunday lunch punctuated by numerous "Eh?"s that I asked if he was deaf and he admitted he thought his ears might be blocked!

He's not particularly complaining about the crustiness of his ears, just commenting on it and I think hoping it will go away if we keep oiling them!

Just as a curiosity: if you infuse a bit of garlic in the olive oil (and strain before use) you might find it is a good antifungal too - but it smells!

Oh no! a) I don't think he'd let me anywhere near him with garlic, he doesn't like it. b) he smells bad enough as it is!

_{Think teen, think boy, think boy who hates water, think boy not interested in girls, think boy who thinks deodorant smells vile (even if it doesn't smell at all!), think boy you don't want to be trapped in a car for four hours with. That's my boy!}

Savvy_Sue

He may need an antifungal ointment and you could try your chemist if you do not want to go to the doctor.

Or you could try bathing the skin in a solution of hot water with a few drops of tea tree essential oil mixed with it.
Good luck and I will be interested to know how you got on.

I think we'll try the tea tree oil first. We've got some of that, probably got Athlete's foot cream as well but although it's all the same kind of stuff he won't thank me for putting that in his ear, will he! ;D

Sterling_geezer

Could be the beginnings of otitis externa, which is essentially eczema of the external ear canal. This tends to settle down with some steroid ear drops (eg Betnesol ear drops 1-2 drops four times a day - settles the condition down v.quick)
otitis externa can become infected in which case you need something like Gentisone or Betnesol N ear drops (prescription only I think).
To be honest I'm not sure about the Tea tree oil drops. They do have antiseptic qualities but there is the potential that if its eczema of the ear canal they could make it worse (irritant reaction).
Is the skin in the ear canal inflammed (red looking +/- swollen) and is it flaky skin? If so then infected otitis externa is the likely diagnosis, just flaky skin (sometimes itchy) then non-infected otitis externa.
Sometimes retained wax can cause this so he may need his ears syringing (which I know you are keen to avoid).
If in doubt see your GP as his ears should be examined formally with an otoscope.

Hope this helps, any questions let me know.

Sweetcheeks_3

Could be the beginnings of otitis externa.............................................
Hope this helps, any questions let me know.

Hey its great having our own resident doctor and dentist on board!!!!

Savvy_Sue

Hey its great having our own resident doctor and dentist on board!!!!

It is, isn't it?

Anyway, it's just flaky skin, not red or inflamed, although it seems fairly well 'attached' if you know what I mean. I've been cleaning it off with a cotton bud smeared with vaseline, not prodding into the ear canal, just trying to remove what's visible. He 'doesn't know' if it's any better today or not. ::) But it doesn't look too bad to me.

His eczema never seems itchy, for which I am profoundly grateful because I know that breaking the itch-scratch cycle is half the battle!

I'm 'resting' the olive oil now as it seems to have done the trick with the wax, and it could be the wax working its way out. Will 'wait and see' for a couple of days, then if we're still getting these dry flakes I'll probably try cleaning one ear with very dilute tea tree oil and see if it upsets him. It hasn't when I've used it on his spots but let's not go there. ;D

Glad

Could be the beginnings of otitis externa, which is essentially eczema of the external ear canal.

In case anyone has been diagnosed with Otitis Externa and are worrying that it is Eczema, can I just say that Otitis Externa simply means 'inflammation of the outer ear' which includes the external ear canal, or outer surface of the eardrum,

although a flareup of eczema may cause Otitis Externa it is not usual and most often the cause is a bacterial infection and less often a fungal infection. Other causes can be prolonged exposure to water, trauma from scratching, foreign objects in the ear, swimming in polluted water, or attempting to clean the ear canal with cotton swabs or small objects which cause irritation.

symptons of Otitis Externa include, pain, itching, and discharge from the ear, hearing loss, buzzing in the ear.

treatment nearly always requires antibiotics, usually in the form of drops, or perhaps oral antibiotics.

Glad

Savvy
my advice would be to leave of the oil and vaseline for a couple of days, it may be a mixture of old wax and oil working it's way out.
The ear is designed to discharge dirt and wax as necessary.
Clean away any that works it's way out without putting anything into the ear.
Bathe the outer ear with a weak salt water solution
if no change then go back to GP and ask for an ENT referral, pointing out that it is affecting his schooling may get you a quicker appointment

Sterling_geezer

treatment nearly always requires antibiotics, usually in the form of drops, or perhaps oral antibiotics.

Before I get loads of people coming in asking for oral antibiotics for their ear infection can I just say that the vast majority only need ear drops such as Gentisone or Betnesol N. Oral antibiotics are not to be taken lightly as they are not without their own side effects.

Oh and thanks to Glad for pointing out that Otitis Externa is more correctly considered a diffuse inflammation of the outer ear canal. I have listed the causes below incase anyone is ultra curious but as Glad points out simple infection by bacteria or sometimes fungal is the more common cause.

Causative agents include:
infection:
bacteria - particularly, pseudomonas, proteus, E.coli, staphylococcus
fungi - aspergillus, candida
allergy - eczema; contact allergy to cosmetics, shampoos
iatrogenic - frequent ear syringing, especially when it causes trauma

Otitis externa is more common in people with a narrowed or tortuous ear canal, particularly if the ear canal is continually wet, such as from swimming.

Hope that clears up the confusion over my advice. Oops. :P