I have had itchy ears for some time now and the last time I visited an ENT I was given antibiotics and it stop for almost a year and now it has started again. Please what might be the cause of it? Thank you.
By Jenny from Accra, Ghana
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You can try using white vinegar and water or peroxide in a 50/50 ratio to flush the ear, this way if there is an infection starting it will cure it.
If the antibiotics stopped the itch for a year, it sounds as though what ever conditions caused the itch in the first place have caused it again.
You live in Ghana which is a tropical country, is it possible the environmental conditions there have exposed you to a fungus? Tropical countries are wonderful places to live but unfortunately come with lots of fungal infection conducive conditions.
For example, I lived in Guatemala for 2.5 years and on my return to the USA it took my doctor several years to figure out I had picked up a fungal infection whilst in Central America. The antibiotics would clear it up enough to stop the horrible itch but then as soon as it got warm and humid (I was living in the US Deep South) the fungal infection would flare up and I would be back in the doctor's office.
He thought I had recurring ear infections and didn't think to test me for a tropical fungus until I read something in a travel magazine and took the article to him.
Perhaps you might ask your doctor to test you for a fungus. The test is painless: the doctor gently scrapes the area where the itch is worse to gather several samples of dead skin cells. He/she then either cultures the samples in the clinic lab or sends the samples to a centralised lab for culturing and a diagnosis. The results take about two weeks to come back.
The proper medication to completely clear the fungus may need to be taken for as long as 6-12 months but is very much worth it!
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