Swollen Ear Canal

The condition of swollen ear canal is often referred to as swimmer's ear. Why? Because this condition normally affects swimmers and thus the name. When excessive water enters the ear canal and ultimately doesn't find a way out, it tends to gather within the region of the ear and hence causes a severe infection within the ear itself.

Remember, before you undergo such a circumstance be sure you take prior precautions and adapt the appropriate methods to learn how to get water out of your ear as soon as possible.

However, speaking in medical terms, this condition of ear infection is also known as otitis externa. Swimmer's ear is a rare but a serious ear infection that is caused in the outer ear or ear canal. It is usually caused due to some infection, inflammation or irritation, possibly because of water getting trapped in the ears or due to factors like dirt, sand or debris that seep into the ear canal, get accumulated and eventually cause inflammation or irritation inside the ear(s).

Swollen ear canal is often seen in people who are HIV-stricken, who have diabetes or in general in older adults. Now speaking about the treatment of this disorder, well, for the most part, it's known to be a curable and resolvable disorder.

Perhaps once a person starts to spot symptoms around the ear, he or she can start with the treatment at the earliest and in a few days the severity can be cured. Nonetheless, there are still some cases where otitis externa is so acute that the condition continues to linger despite the treatment.

As aforementioned, it is an infection in the ear canal. Every ear has a protective film that embraces the lipid layer in the ear. The lipid layer is also known as the ear canal. If this layer is affected or has been removed due to some external cause, the ear canal is likely to swell up and appear reddish.

The most common reason for a ear infection is trapped moisture or water inside the ear due to activities like bathing, swimming, or moist environment. There are infinitesimal multiple bacteria that dwell inside the ear canal and the skin surrounding it.

So when water remains trapped inside the ear, an anti-reaction takes place with all these bacteria intending to multiply and manifold more organisms which totally scathe the entire region around the ear(s).

Other several factors too contribute to the causes are: inordinate cleaning of the ears using ear buds or cotton swabs. Many use a lot of chemical products on their hair for getting a good look, but they don't realize that those chemicals are somehow likely to enter the ears as well. Sometimes many people have certain allergies or skin conditions like seborrhea, eczema, psoriasis, scalp dermatitis, etc.

The main symptom to start off with under this subject is pain and severe itching. This gets worst if one tries to touch the outer ear during the treatment procedure. Signs like fever, awful yellow or white drainage from the ears, impaired hearing, severe pain around the side of the head, neck or face, swelling, redness, swollen lymph nodes around the ear and so on, are few of the biggest symptoms one can face to determine that the ear canal has been swollen.

The only diagnosis to such a severe condition is to but naturally consult a doctor and allow him/her to look into the matter profoundly. Doctors treat the swollen red ear canal by slipping in an instrument called otoscope through which he/she can determine the actual condition of the ear on the inside, whether it's swollen, has debris or is it passing a fluid called pus.

There is another reason for a ear canal to swell up, that is having a hairy ear canal or even a narrow one. Moreover, these symptoms are a bit tolerable as compared to acute otitis media, wherein, the pain is unfathomably worse.

Whatsoever be the symptom or the cause, proper treatment at the right time is the utmost factor to do away with these problems. So here are some normal treatment options and appropriate measures to be taken while treating swollen ear canal.

For knowing how to treat an ear infection, particularly in the ear canal in the initial stages, the doctor's suggested method using ear drops to subdue fungal growth and bacteria is a rational option. This also helps in reducing inflammation. If the condition hasn't worsened too far, using acetic acid and boric solutions too can help effectively.

• If you plan to self clean your ear(s), avoid doing it. What you will do is push the debris deep inside the eardrum causing an aggravation to the already existing condition. Fetch the help of a doctor in such a case.

• For swimmers, the recommended method is to combine half vinegar and alcohol and pour it into the ears. This helps in reducing the severity of this condition. Make sure the patient lies down with the infected ear in the upward position.

• When doctors treat the ear canal using an otoscope, what they do is suck the debris and other waste materials from the ear by dry using cotton wipes. This helps in cleaning the ear canal to a large extent. You are then handed over with some drops that contains a corticosteroid which you are supposed to use several times a day.

• There is also another solution, analgesics, which also works in reducing the inflammation of the ear canal and begins to show results in the first 24 to 48 hours.

Our little carelessness or ignorance can lead to skin problems and conditions which would take quite sometime to revert to normal. Hence it's highly suggested to not leave this disorder untreated even though it appears minuscule.