I have clear liquid draining from my ears

Posted by Gregory Tremblay @gregorytremblay, Jan 24, 2016

I have clear liquid draining from my ears, mostly from the right, and the canals show damaged skin. I've seen 2 specialists and neither thinks it's a problem. They are surely incompetant, as the 1st I saw caused an infection in my left ear. The fluid feels like automotive break fluid. Do you have an opinion? Thanks. Greg T.

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@swampy1980

I am seeing an ENT on the 4th. I have clear liquid running out of my ears. I have to keep some cotton or tissue in my ears because it runs down my neck. They get crusty at night as others have mentioned. I have sores on the ear itself. My ears itch something horrible. I have been to my dr many times. She gave me antibiotics, creams and steroids. Nothing has helped. She sent me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist is sending me to the ENT. I am going on two months of this. It's driving me crazy. I am adding a picture. Did anyone else have sores? The sores go up even higher now. This was taken when this started. Also the fluid was not as bad then as now.

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Another question for you. How did you get the picture of your inner ear? I tried just so I could see what it looked like and as I don't have good hand/eye coordination it never worked. I"m hope you have someone with you to help,I guess.

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@stessner

Hi,
I was told that instead of using a qtip I should buy the spray bottle for ear cleaning and mix hydrogen peroxide with water and clean my ears that way. It felt good a couple of times but my drainage persisted. I then read that I shold keep my ears dry and use ear plugs in the shower to keep the water out. I go to the dr and they bring out the same solution I read not to use! My drainage went away after the 3rd round of antibiotics but wass told it won't last like neither of the other 2 did. After a couple days, the infection returns. It's baterial and resistant to antibiotics. I used to say my ears were only good for hnging earrings on, but nowadays I can't even do that!!!

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Thanks for your input....

Fortunately, the antibiotics got rid of my inner ear infection. So far so
good, just hoping the infection doesn'r return.

Meanwhile, I've had a bladder infection, for which antibiotics were
prescribed. Those don't appear to have done the job. So, tomorrow it's back
to contacting the VA in hopes of coming up with a solution.

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My son has a fungus in his ear and medication does not seem to help. Is there a way to physically remove it?

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@terryvrshek

I had a bilateral fungus a few years ago and my ENT at the time swabbed it with Povidone Iodine and told me to try that for a few days. I poured a tiny bit in the canals and returned to him and it was gone and never same back. It can be bought in drugstore. It’s and antiseptic and anti fungal agent. Might be worth a try.

FL Mary

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I've had a similar problem that stated first in the left and is now in both ears. Mine started when i was in high school and i woke up one day and couldn't hear. I visited my GP and he flushed my ears. LOTS of black wax came out. He told my mom to flush my ears with Hydrogen Peroxide-water mix. we did this for twice a month for a year! I started noticing my left ear really itching so bad that it would wake me up in middle of night!. I soon had this clear fluid coming out. That fluid would soak a q-tip if i laid it in the ear canal opening. I would hear bubbles popping and my pillow would be wet.
This would start a vicious cycle - clear fluid dries, becomes very itchy and looks like very dry skin. if you scratch or peel that stuff off, the liquid comes. And the fluid (or itchiness) would end up swelling my ear canal up. PAIN all they was down my jaw. And then it would start all over.
I finally went to a different GP and he gave me a Rx for ear drops that you would give to swimmer's ear. Some sort of milky liquid corticosteroid. A few drops and the swelling would go away, but i also noticed the itching went away too. So i started putting a few drops on a q-tip and swabbed my ear (not way in the canal!). the itchy and fluid eventually stopped but as soon I as stopped the Rx, it came back with a vengeance!! It's now all in the helix, both sides of the tragus, the skin is split in the intertragic notch, and now it's in the right ear!!

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@rebeccamcroberts

Hi @gregorytremblay. I'm one of the Community Managers here at Connect. Unfortunately, we can't provide any kind of diagnosis, but we can try to connect you with other people who have had a similar experience. I can imagine how frustrating it must be to not have an explanation - do you have any other symptoms? Any dizziness or fever?

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My drainage started after I started using new pair of earbuds. Had no issues with the old pair. Could it be a reaction to
The rubber in the ear buds?

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I know this post is old, but did you ever fix your issue? I've had this ear leak for over 3 years now, ever since my sinus endoscopy. ENT that performed the procedure said it would go away within a few months, I went back multiple times since then and they prescribed antibiotics/steroids etc. None of which worked. I have a history of ear tubes but only had this issue once before after my mastoidectomy about 10 years ago, but the leaking only lasted for about a week. I've pretty much given up and have had a cotton ball in my ear for the past 2 years. I don't have any pain or irritation just the annoyance and would love to find a solution.

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@gordy6898p

Thanks for your input....

Fortunately, the antibiotics got rid of my inner ear infection. So far so
good, just hoping the infection doesn'r return.

Meanwhile, I've had a bladder infection, for which antibiotics were
prescribed. Those don't appear to have done the job. So, tomorrow it's back
to contacting the VA in hopes of coming up with a solution.

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I just bought apple cider vinegar and cranberry juice because I have either a bladder, UTI, or a stone trying to pass. The pain isn't that bad right now so I got a jump on things. I have Dr appt in Feb with primary care and can do test. I got rid of kidney stones years ago with this concoction. Drank a soda bottle of it 3 times a day for a week. One quarter cider vinegar to 3/4 cranberry and 1/4 water to finish filling bottle.

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