What is the cause of a blocked, itchy ear with white debris after ear cleaning?

Question

Hi doctor,

My condition is still unknown to me. However, two months ago, something blocked my ear, causing my hearing to suffer. Both my ears are always itchy. But that only lasts two weeks before my hearing returns to normal. This week it happened to me again, although in a different case. Something is blocking my eardrum again. I tried to clean it with the earpick, but I got some white ones. I got three large ones, and my hearing was normal again after I removed them. But there is still a little something wrong with my hearing, so I tried cleaning it again last night and got a small bit of it again. Now my hearing is perfectly normal. What is your opinion?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern. First, I want to tell you never to again clean your ear yourself with Q tips, buds, or anything else. The ear has a natural cleaning mechanism called the migratory epithelial pattern, which gets disturbed when you put Q tips or anything like that inside the ear, leading to build-up and impaction of debris and wax. Your hearing is perfectly normal after the cleanup; happy to know that, but please do not clean your ears yourself again. In the picture you sent (the attachments are removed to protect the patient's identity), the debris looks like infected epithelial pearl debris. So you need to send me a picture of the otoscopy to know the status of the tympanic membrane because this type of debris usually builds up in the ear when the tympanic membrane is retracted or there is inflammation in the tympanic membrane, called myringitis. I hope you find it helpful. Kind regards.