Ear - Pulling At or Itchy

Pediatric Housecalls Online

DEFINITION

• A child repeatedly pulls, tugs, pokes or itches the outer ear or ear canal.
• no crying or report of earache

Causes

• Main Cause (infants): normal touching and pulling with discovery of ears. This behavior is usually not seen before 4 months of age
• Main Cause (older children): mild swimmer's ear from: (1) water accumulation during swimming or showers, (2) soap or shampoo retention, or (3) canal irritation from cotton-tipped swabs. Some children are reacting to a piece of earwax in the ear canal.
• Most younger children (under age 2 or 3) who pull or poke at the ear are unable to confirm or deny the presence of an earache. Dr. Ray Baker examined 100 children with ear-pulling as the chief complaint. The main conclusion was that simple ear-pulling without other symptoms of an illness or infection was never associated with ear infections.

See More Appropriate Topic (instead of this one) If

• Child is mainly crying and not pulling at ears, see CRYING CHILD OVER 3 MONTHS OF AGE.
• child reports earache, see EARACHE

WHEN TO CALL YOUR DOCTOR

Call Your Doctor Now (night or day) If

• Your child looks or acts very sick.
• Fever above 105°F (40.6°C).
• Age under 12 weeks with fever above 100.4 °F (38.0 °C) rectally

Call Your Doctor Within 24 Hours (between 9 am and 4 pm) If

• You think your child needs to be seen.
• Seems to be in pain or crying without an obvious reason.
• Starts awakening from sleep.
• Fever or symptoms of a cold are present.
• Drainage from the ear canal.
• Constant digging inside 1 ear canal.

Call Your Doctor During Weekday Office Hours If

• You have other questions or concerns
• Pulling at the ear continues over 3 days
• Itching continues over 1 week

Parent Care at Home If

• Normal ear touching or pulling
• Itchy ear canal

HOME CARE ADVICE FOR EAR PULLING HABIT OR ITCHY EAR CANAL

1. Habit: If touching the ear is a new habit, ignore it (prevent doing it for attention).
2. White Vinegar Eardrops: For itchy ear canal, use ½ strength white vinegar by diluting it with equal parts water. Place 2 drops in each ear canal daily for three days (Reason: restore the normal acid pH). (EXCEPTION: ear drainage, ear tubes or hole in eardrum.)
3. Avoid Soap: Keep soap and shampoo out of the ear canal.
4. Avoid Cotton Swabs: Cotton swabs remove the earwax that normally protects the lining of the ear canal, and this leads to itching and irritation.
5. Expected Course: With this treatment, most itching is gone in 2 or 3 days.
6. Call Your Doctor If:
   • Pulling at the ear continues for over 3 days
   • Itching of ear continues for over 1 week
   • Your child becomes worse

And remember, contact your doctor if your child develops any of the "Call Your Doctor" symptoms.