Ok so from as far back as I can remember I have always had itchy ears, and I am talking about that deep itch that only stuffing a cotton bud right in there will solve (such a lovely feeling isn’t it!).
I am not sure if this was a learned behaviour though as I can remember watching my mother itching her ears with a hair grip, and I was curious why she was doing that as it looked painful, so one day I tried it out and soon enough I was hooked.
One ear was always itchier the other and that was my right ear.
Looking back now I can see that I was always itching in response to some kind of experience, event going on in my life (could be good or bad) and stress. I was reaching for a cotton bud several times throughout the day and before I needed to do something, so itching my ears turned into a real crutch for me. Cotton buds were my friend!.
It was a vicious cycle and the itchy ears became a perplexing and irritating situation. I would often wake up in the night to itching my ears in a frenzy, and there was many a time I would have to fish the end of the cotton bud out of my ear, which you would think was quite worrying but it didn’t stop me, I just thought it was a minor inconvenience. I didn’t really give it all too much attention or realise the damage I was doing to the tiny structures within my inner ear.
However, years of constant pounding against my ear drum and then cycles of dryness and flaking (which only exacerbated the itching – especially after a shower) and then sheer panic if there were no cotton buds left “quick where is a hairgrip” all eventually led to sensitivity, inflammation and painful ear infections.
So, I visited my GP to see if I could get some medication to stop the cycle. The doctor said it was probably eczema and to try and keep my ears dry but that there was nothing more they could do, I even went so far as to wear gloves at night to stop my itching my ears in my sleep, I tried over the counter creams and vaseline, olive oil etc but none of it seemed to work.
I desperately tried not to itch, but the urge was always too strong, so I resolved myself to the fact that it was something I had to live with even when having to aggressively itch my ear when out in social settings prompted my friends to ask “if I was ok, why am I sticking my finger in my ear and wildly wiggling, that is not normal”. I think I was then sub-consciously aware that someday soon this itching was going to do some severe damage.
I was soon to learn that ears are delicate and vital to your overall health, treating them with care is essential. Ears are important!
