Proven methods for treating a boil in the ear. Furuncle in the ear: causes of boils, symptoms and treatment

According to statistics, almost 18% of ear diseases are due to limited external otitis, or a boil in the ear. This is a common pathology that occurs as an inflammatory process in the sebaceous gland or hair follicle of the auricle, is localized in the external auditory canal and in some cases affects the skin layer of the eardrum.

The occurrence of a pathological process in the ear is facilitated by infection with pathogenic microorganisms.

The reasons that lead to the formation of a purulent, painful lump are:

Low immunity, which cannot resist the growth of bacteria. Frequent colds, hormonal imbalances, diabetes, stress, poor environment, serious illnesses (HIV, oncology), and long-term use of antibiotics lead to its decrease.
Mechanical damage to the skin of the auricle or lobe. This may include scratching, injury from sharp objects, or insect bites.
Ingress of infected water into the external passage or frequent use of foreign objects (earplugs, vacuum headphones, hearing aids).
Concomitant ear diseases. The appearance of external boils may be a sign of ear diseases such as eustachitis or otitis media. Otitis media and inflammation of the eardrum also lead to purulent formations.
Poor hygiene, lack of caution. The accumulation of dirt, sweat and sebum behind the ear leads to the proliferation of bacterial flora, which can easily be carried into the ear canal. Cleaning using various methods not intended for this purpose - matches, pencils, fingers - also leads to injury and infection. The disease can be triggered by applying dirty phones to the auricle or using someone else's headphones.

A provoking factor can be a narrowing of the ear canal due to illness, insufficient formation of sulfur, or a change in its composition.

Pathogens of furunculosis

Acne in 90% of cases occurs due to a bacterial cause. Diagnostic studies have revealed that most often a staphylococcal infection leads to the development of the inflammatory process. A common pathogen is Staphylococcus aureus, infection with which is accompanied by the release of purulent masses and the rapid spread of the pathogen.

The disease can also be caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which gets into the ear with water during bathing. Sometimes fungal infections are detected. A mixed form is possible - fungal-bacterial.

The infection penetrates the ear canal, but begins to spread only when the immune system is weakened. The situation is often aggravated by general hypothermia, chronic runny nose and throat diseases.

To determine the pathogen, the doctor takes a smear from the area of inflammation. This is necessary to prescribe an effective drug.

Main symptoms

With furunculosis, burning sensations and dryness occur in the area of the inflammatory process. This is the first sign that a person pays attention to. Pain appears with swelling and skin changes in the auricle, intensifies when turning the head, chewing, touching the auricle and moving it. In some cases, headaches occur, especially in the temporal lobes.

With severe inflammation, the patient feels a deterioration in hearing, and partial temporary deafness is possible. The temperature rises to 37-38 °C.

Subsequently, a compaction with purulent contents appears. The pimple often opens on its own; in rare cases, surgical intervention is required. On average, the disease lasts 7-10 days.

What you can do at home

If a boil is detected in the internal auditory canal or near the ear, it is recommended to consult an otolaryngologist.

If there is severe pain before going to the hospital, you can relieve the condition with painkillers and warm compresses. Both “dry” heat and a heating pad with water are suitable here. Alcohol lotions can also be used.

You can reduce itching with an iodine solution. It is better not to bring the temperature down to 38 °C, as the body is fighting the disease.

Squeezing the boil is prohibited. This can cause the infection to spread into deeper tissues. Ointments with a pulling effect (ichthyol, heparin) will help to quickly cope with the disease at the initial stage. They contribute to the maturation and opening of the formation.

After opening the boil, antibacterial drops and ointments (Levomekol, tetracycline ointment) will help to avoid secondary infection.

How to treat boils in ears

The effectiveness of treatment depends on the timeliness of the patient's contact with a specialist. The place where the boil popped up is also important. The doctor will conduct an examination and take a smear to identify the pathogen. With a competent approach, the prognosis is favorable.

Drug treatment

Initially, therapy includes the following:

antibiotics in ampoules (intramuscular) and/or tablets (orally);
introduction of turunda soaked in boric alcohol into the ear canal;
antiseptic drugs;
taking vitamins and immunostimulants;
physiotherapy - microwave, ultraviolet irradiation.

After opening the boil, the turunda is soaked in a solution of sodium chloride or penicillin.

Surgical removal

Surgery is rarely used, only when necessary. This procedure is recommended:

when several large abscesses form;
if the boil does not open on its own within 10 days;
in case of complications such as mumps, lymphadenitis;
for severe migraines and high fever.

If there are such indications, you should consult a doctor. The operation is performed under local anesthesia: a small incision is made through which the purulent contents are removed. Then the operated area is treated with an antiseptic, which is prescribed by a specialist.

Folk remedies

This therapy includes a number of effective methods that will help remove the boil without pills:

Make a hole in the center of a medium-sized onion. Pour linseed oil into it and put it in the oven. Cool the juice from the baked onion to a comfortable temperature. Instill into the sore ear until the condition improves.
For chronic furunculosis, take 0.5 tsp daily. purified sulfur powder. Add it to milk or cereal.
You can make a cake from honey and rye flour and apply it to the pimple at night. Cover the top with paper and wrap it with cloth.
A dressing made from a mixture of fir oil and Vishnevsky balsam. Proportions 7:3. Impregnate the bandage with this composition, apply it tightly to the boil, and fix it with an adhesive plaster. The dressing is changed 2-3 times a day.
A mixture of onions and garlic cloves is suitable as a warming compress. The plants are crushed in equal parts and fried. The resulting mixture is placed in gauze and the inflammation is treated.

If there is no positive dynamics within 2-3 days, it is recommended to consult a doctor to prescribe medication.

Complications

Furunculosis requires mandatory treatment. Even if you open it yourself, pus can get into the middle ear. The infection will penetrate deeper, causing mumps, which affects the central nervous system. To avoid this, it is recommended to sleep only on the side of the affected ear or on your back.

In advanced forms of the disease, hearing loss of varying degrees may develop. The ear canals are located close to the nasal cavity, jaw, and brain. With low immunity, the infection can enter the circulatory system. As it spreads throughout the body, it will affect other organs, leading to:

meningitis;
thrombosis;
the appearance of numerous boils throughout the body;
encephalitis;
sepsis.

Such complications will not pass without a trace for the patient. It is important to consult a specialist if discomfort occurs in the auricle.

Furunculosis can also spread to the ear area, although this occurs infrequently. The disease manifests itself as purulent formations inside the ear. A small wound can cause necrosis of a small area of tissue and accumulation of pus.

The formation causes severe discomfort to the patient and interferes with eating and sleeping. In some cases, it must be removed surgically. Even if a boil in the ear does not cause severe discomfort, you still need to treat and monitor its condition.

Causes of an abscess

The main cause of an abscess is the entry of staphylococcus into the open area of the ear (wound, damaged epidermis).

The body fights foreign invasion by confining the bacterium to a limited area - a boil. An inflammatory process begins, due to which a necrotic core appears - dead tissue. In addition to it, pus appears - a product of the death of lymphocytes that participated in the fight against infection.

Staphylococcus infection may be associated with:

improper hygiene of the ear area, in which a cotton swab or other cleaning object scratches the epidermis;
failure to comply with basic hygiene (when microcracks appear in the epidermis, which has not been cleaned, bacteria penetrate into the tissue);
vitamin deficiency, in which peeling occurs;
the passage in the body of a syndrome such as exudative erythema (severe allergic reaction);
lack of immunity;
colds or internal inflammatory disease.

The cause of a boil is significant only if it appears as a consequence of general furunculosis and purulent lesions in the middle ear area. Other lesions that cause an abscess are secondary. When treating, the therapist focuses on the abscess and purulent cap.

Please note: The cause of microcracks and wounds in the skin of the ear can be an allergic reaction. In this case, it is necessary to take antiallergic tablets.

The main symptoms of furunculosis

Symptomatically, inflammation in the ear is similar to many ear diseases. The main sign of the development of an abscess is pain in the ear area. Tears the junction of the auricle and the head. Other symptoms are more specific:

in the first stages of infection, the skin turns red and purple;
a whitish growth forms at the location of the wound - a place where pus accumulates;
inside the formed growth you can see a rod, and also a place where pus will soon burst;
the patient experiences pain when eating;
painful sensations intensify when yawning, talking, opening and closing the jaw;
when touching the area of the ear canal, a sharp unpleasant feeling arises and a desire to urgently remove the hand;
the lymph nodes located next to the abscess are enlarged;
insomnia due to pain;
slight rise in temperature accompanied by chills.

With furunculosis, a complex of symptoms appears. Most often, the inflamed area itches, breaks out, and slowly turns into a mature abscess. Pain and discomfort disappear when development is completed: the abscess bursts, releasing the necrotic core and products of suppuration.

Diagnosis of the disease

To detect the disease, in most cases it is enough to visually examine the area of the auricle. Any redness or swelling should be noted. The area where the abscess appears should be inspected (from the inside, not the outside). This can be done conveniently with the help of a mirror and a flashlight.

If it was not possible to find the location of the abscess, the diagnosis should be determined in the clinic. The therapist should pay attention to:

general anamnesis (complaints from the patient’s words);
appearance of the auricle;
blood and urine tests.

Taking material for analysis and examining it in order to identify the problem is a rare but effective method of detecting the inflammatory process. With the accelerated development of a large abscess, the structure of the blood and urine changes. More leukocytes are found in them, and erythrocytes in the urine.

In rare cases, ultrasound or radiography is used for diagnosis. Such procedures are associated with a suspicion of the internal location of the source of inflammation. They are carried out if there is a suspicion of inflammation of the middle ear.

The main task of the diagnostician when purulent formations are suspected is to separate furunculosis from mastoiditis. The second disease occurs with otitis media, which occurs in a complicated form.

A boil in the ear is characterized by more pinpoint pain and swelling in the area of just the junction of the ear and head. Hearing does not change during the development of an abscess, although the formation affects the nerve endings. To differentiate diseases, an x-ray is taken. Only causes the changed state in the snapshot.

Treatment methods for furunculosis

Treatment of a boil can be carried out without the advice of a doctor. You can carry out procedures related to the treatment of growth yourself. But even with home treatment, it is important to remember that therapy must be carried out in strict accordance with the instructions for the drugs. If the patient's condition worsens, the patient should switch to professional treatment.

If a lump occurs in the ear, at the very beginning of therapy it is necessary to determine what type of treatment the patient needs. There are two options:

conservative, that is, non-surgical, method;
surgery of the inflamed area.

Conservative treatment

Conservative treatment helps those whose condition does not go beyond the norm. A boil in the ear of medium size and with a standard maturation period of 3–5 days does not need to be removed. It should be removed with medication or through procedures.

Before the abscess breaks through, you should take medications aimed at combating pain and inflammation. Conventional analgesics are not suitable: they have too weak an effect. When treating at home, it is recommended to create a mini-first aid kit from the following medications:

directed against tissue inflammation (Efferalgan or Panadol);
simple antipyretics in case of fever;
vitamin complexes for signs of vitamin deficiency.

To relieve pain, it is recommended to do turundas with soothing compounds. After opening the formation and removing the pus, the turundas are soaked in saline solution and inserted into the ear area to dry out the abscess and possible harmful cells that could remain from the pus.

In case of a serious course of the disease, the patient is referred for instrumental treatment. Ultraviolet irradiation, microwave and UHF techniques will help to cope with constant relapses of the boil and overcome a large abscess in the ear.

Antibiotics must be prescribed both internally and externally. Penicillin emulsion is applied to the skin, and other antibiotics are taken orally in tablet form. In extreme cases, two types of injections are prescribed:

autohematotherapeutic;
penicillin.

In the first case, the patient’s own blood, taken from a vein, is injected into the muscle tissue.

Surgical treatment

If frequent relapses have been noticed, the boil in the ear has been brewing for more than 5 days or causes severe pain, the therapist prescribes surgical treatment. Under general or local anesthesia, the growth is opened and all contents are removed. After the main procedures, the wound must be treated with alcohol and saline solution.

Surgery can get rid of the abscess in less than an hour. But after surgery, the wound remains open for some time, which is why it can become infected again.

Prevention

Preventive measures for the formation of a boil are, first of all, compliance with the rules of personal hygiene and proper hygiene. It is necessary to pay attention to the condition of the skin in the auricle, not to let it crack, peel or dry out.

The second measure necessary for furunculosis is taking a vitamin complex and a correct lifestyle. With poor nutrition, the secretion of toxins through the skin increases, the body more easily catches infections, and the tissues become inflamed. Lack of vitamins leads to cracking of the skin until bloody marks appear. Such phenomena need to be eliminated.

On the street, you need to constantly protect your ears from wind and frostbite, and make sure that there is no pain due to the cool air. Immunity has a significant impact on the patient’s condition and the risk of developing furunculosis. With a low rate, relapses will occur much more often.

Video: Folk way

Unfortunately, many of us know firsthand about such an unpleasant phenomenon as a boil. It is a painful purulent inflammation of the hair follicle (follicle) and can occur on almost any area of the skin.

A boil in the ear canal usually appears due to mechanical damage to the skin. For example, small scratches can occur when combing or cleaning the ears with objects not intended for this purpose - matches, pins, etc. Staphylococcus bacteria are very easily introduced into the wound, causing inflammation and subsequent suppuration.

A furuncle in the ear forms on the hairy area of the outer auditory layer. At this moment, a dense nodule becomes inflamed on the skin, causing quite severe throbbing pain, spreading to the temples and jaw. This process may be accompanied by general malaise, elevated body temperature, and difficulty chewing.

The inflammation can go away in a few days, or it can last for several weeks if the opening of the abscess provokes the appearance of new boils. Therefore, it is highly not recommended to squeeze, open or pierce a boil yourself - careless actions and unsterile instruments can lead to the spread of infection.

Causes of boils in the ears

A boil in the ear can occur due to a number of reasons. The most common are the following:

1. Microtrauma of the auditory canal. When cleaning your ears, you can easily scratch the thin skin of the ear, after which bacteria enter the wound and the formation of purulent inflammation begins;

2. Lack of hygiene or non-compliance with the rules of hygiene of the auricle. When cleaning your ears, you need to take into account that cotton swabs are intended for the auricle, but not for the ear canal. Be careful not to damage the skin or cause infection in the ear;

3. Reduced immunity is one of the reasons for the occurrence of all types of boils, including in the ear. Immunity may be reduced as a result of a previous cold, due to taking antibiotics, due to vitamin deficiency, etc.;

4. Often boils occur due to metabolic disorders in the body, as well as due to malfunctions of the gastrointestinal tract or endocrine system. Therefore, if inflammation is not isolated and occurs regularly, it is recommended to consult a doctor.

How to recognize a boil in the ear

The main symptom of a boil in the ear is aching or tugging pain in the ear canal, which is usually preceded by itching and redness of the skin. The pain may worsen when chewing, talking, or touching the ear.

In some cases, the pain spreads to the area behind the ear, jaw or temple. This is explained by the peculiarities of the location of the ternary nerve, which reacts to the appearance of inflammation.

Often a boil in the ear is accompanied by a headache.

In cases where the boil reaches a large size and blocks the ear canal, some hearing loss may be observed.

At the stage of abscess formation, that is, the spread of bacterial flora to nearby tissues, when the boil has not yet opened and there is no free outflow of purulent contents from the wound, there may be an increase in body temperature, enlargement of the lymph nodes and a deterioration in general well-being.

After the boil breaks out, the pain decreases, the temperature returns to normal, and pus may flow out of the ear canal. At this time, it is recommended to sleep on the sore ear, since during sleep, purulent masses can go deep into the ear and cause serious problems.

The intensity and duration of symptoms of inflammation of the hair follicle in the ear directly depend on the severity of the inflammatory process, the characteristics of the immune system of a particular person, and timely and competent treatment.

Precautions for boils in the ear

When trying to treat boils at home, many of us commit actions that can lead to very dangerous consequences, so timely consultation with a doctor will be the most correct decision in this case.

Under no circumstances should you squeeze or puncture the boil. You need to wait until it ripens and breaks through on its own. Otherwise, this may cause the infection to spread to nearby tissues and cause sepsis.

Avoid getting water into your ear. Therefore, douching, washing and similar procedures are strictly prohibited. Until the abscess completely disappears, it is better to refuse bathing, in particular, washing your hair.

Incorrect treatment can cause carbuncles (multiple boils) and sepsis, so getting rid of boils in the ear must be approached with all responsibility, taking the necessary precautions.

Treatment of boils in a hospital setting

Depending on the severity of the inflammation, treatment of furunculosis can occur in a hospital or at home.

In any case, you need to contact an otolaryngologist. The doctor will conduct an examination and prescribe therapeutic procedures aimed at removing the purulent contents of the boil, reducing inflammation and healing the wound.

As a rule, the doctor first prescribes an antibiotic to the patient: tetracycline, erythromycin, amoxicillin, augmentin and similar drugs.

If ear furunculosis is accompanied by fever and severe pain, the doctor may recommend antipyretic and painkillers, often in combination with immunostimulants and vitamins.

In particularly difficult cases, a course of physiotherapy may be necessary, including ultrasound irradiation of the ear area.

Inflammation of the boil is relieved with turundas (narrow gauze swabs) with 3% boric alcohol and glycerin. A gauze turunda is soaked in the mixture and inserted into the ear canal.

As a rule, inflammation of the follicle in the ear is completely cured by the above measures within 10 days at home. But occasionally, in particularly difficult cases, the doctor may resort to surgery to remove large boils. During it, a fully mature abscess is opened using a small incision under local anesthesia, the pus and necrotic core are removed, and then the wound is washed with an antibacterial solution. For several days after the operation, drops with an antibiotic are instilled into the ear, and turundas with healing solutions and ointments are placed in the ear canal.

Home treatment for boils in the ear

If you have the opportunity to visit a doctor, then self-medication in this case is extremely wrong.

Let's consider measures that can be taken to treat a boil in the ear at home if a doctor is unavailable for some reason. Depending on the stage of the inflammatory process in the ear canal, the possible measures taken will vary.

At the first signs of furunculosis (itching, redness, irritation of the skin), you can lubricate the affected area with tincture of iodine. If you take action in time, you can avoid further development of inflammation.

If the appearance of a boil could not be avoided, then the next thing that can be done is to use dry heat on the sore ear, which will speed up the process of formation of the abscess. For this purpose, you can use a warm heating pad, or a Minin reflector, more popularly known as a “blue lamp”. In addition to its warming effect, the lamp has a bactericidal and antiviral effect. You need to be extremely careful with warming up. Every day it is enough to devote 15 minutes to this procedure, no more, otherwise you can provoke the spread of infection.

There are many traditional medicine recipes aimed at helping in the fight against furunculosis, accelerating the maturation of the abscess and healing the resulting wound. Here are the most popular of them.

When the boil is located on an open area of the skin, it is easier to deal with it, but when the abscess appears in the ear, onions and linseed oil can help out. Take a large onion, use a knife to make a hole in the center of it in the form of a funnel, into which a small amount of linseed oil is poured. The onion is baked in the oven. The juice obtained in this way is buried in the ear or applied to a gauze turunda, which must be used to close the ear canal for several hours or overnight.

To speed up the maturation of the boil, you can use a solution of borax (sodium tetraborate). A tablespoon of the substance should be dissolved in 200 ml of boiled water and the resulting liquid should be applied to the inflammation in the ear canal using turundas. Boric alcohol has a similar effect; it can replace borax.

Treatment of boils can be done using calendula. To do this, grind a tablespoon of calendula and mix it with 30 grams of Vaseline. The resulting mass is applied to the boil. The procedure is repeated 4-5 times during the day.

Garlic is a good way to quickly break out a boil. You need to take a strip of clean cloth, soak it in vegetable oil and rub with squeezed garlic. Fold the fabric so that the resulting mass is inside the tube and apply to the inflammation two to three times a day for several hours.

Thus, there are many ways to combat boils in the ears, but it must be remembered that treatment with traditional medicine at home should be carried out only after agreement with the attending physician and combined with methods and drugs of official medicine.

A furuncle of the external auditory canal is dangerous due to its complications, so effective treatment should follow immediately after diagnosis. For intensive therapy to be successful, the first step is to identify the pathogenic factor and eliminate it from the life of the clinical patient. In addition to weak immunity, the causes of boils in the ear can be as follows:

painful inflammation of the outer ear;
acute pain in the earlobe;
a consequence of improper hygiene;
discomfort with swelling of the ear canal;
violation of the rules for cleaning the ear canal;
increased body temperature;
mechanical damage to the ear;
complication of colds;
addition of a secondary infection;
progressive otitis of the ear;
reduced immune response of the body.

A furuncle appears in the membranous-cartilaginous part of the ear canal when staphylococcus affects the follicle, sulfur, and sweat glands.

Main reasons:

The development of an inflammatory infectious process specifically in the area of the external auditory canal is not very uncommon. In this part of the body there are many sweat glands, the excretory ducts of which open next to the hairs.

The main reasons leading to purulent inflammation of the follicle are:

blockage of the sebaceous gland and infection;
microcracks and injuries to the ear mucosa;
some autoimmune diseases, diabetes, hormone-dependent asthma;
general hypothermia of the body;
allocation pus from the middle ear;
decreased immunity;
avitaminosis.

When the body is weakened, its resistance to various infections decreases, this can lead to the development of furunculosis. With this disease, boils spread throughout the body.

In the photo there is a boil of the external auditory canal

Properly treating a boil is very important, especially for children, but you need to know why it appears. There may be several reasons, but the most important is lack of hygiene.

The child must be taught from the very beginning that hands must always be washed, that dirty hands should not be used in the mouth, nose, ears, or scratch wounds and scratches. They begin to do this from a very young age, and then the child automatically begins to observe hygiene himself.

A boil may also appear due to mechanical damage, that is, scratching with various objects, often dirty. Staphylococcus gets into the resulting microscrat and suppuration begins, which must be cured.

Sometimes the cause is inflammation due to a cold if the child has been exposed to frosty, damp weather.

Symptoms of a boil in the ear

The first signs indicating that it is necessary to begin treatment for a boil are burning, swelling, redness, mild itching and hyperemia of the skin.

Symptoms may include bursting headaches, piercing pain in the ear itself, and irritability. In children, such symptoms are especially difficult: the baby is capricious, may refuse food, and constantly reaches for the sore spot.

A boil in the ear manifests itself in several stages. Primary symptoms may go unnoticed, especially if the formation is localized in an area that is practically not irritated by daily activities.

The causative agent of the infection is representatives of pathogenic flora (staphylococci and streptococci) of the skin.

How to distinguish a real boil from a simple pimple

The appearance of a boil or boil is accompanied by symptoms such as slight itching, redness and slight swelling, which only intensifies over time. As the boil develops, the pain becomes more and more unbearable.

The process of treating a boil in the ear is usually difficult for the patient, since constant shooting pain in the ear and severe pain in the head, radiating to the eye or jaw, lead to disability. The disease is accompanied by general weakness, increased body temperature, and irritability. Furunculosis causes particular suffering to children and people engaged in mental work.

Symptoms and causes

At the first symptoms of the disease, treatment should begin immediately. At the initial stage (infiltration), the development of the boil can be stopped.

A characteristic disease at an early stage is accompanied by itching and discomfort in the area of the auricle and ear canal, however, it is difficult to differentiate furunculosis by this criterion. Unpleasant and even painful symptoms appear when a boil on the earlobe has completely formed.

Eloquent manifestations of this disease, which require special attention, are presented in detail below:

a feeling of dryness and burning in the ear canal;
visible manifestation of swelling of the pathological focus;
the appearance of acute pain at the site of pathology;
hyperemia of the skin, ear;
enlarged parotid lymph nodes;
acute attacks of migraine, pain in the temples;
partial or complete deafness.

Symptoms:

Due to the activity of bacteria that have entered the passage of the sebaceous gland or a microcrack, the walls of the hair follicle become inflamed.

At first, the patient feels a slight tingling, slight itching, and then after 24-48 hours a bright red lump appears on the skin, which slowly increases in size.
Next, the boil takes on a shape similar to a cone, which can reach 1.5-2 cm in diameter. The resulting lump is very painful.
The pain intensifies when touched. The patient's temperature rises, appetite disappears, and sleep deteriorates.
Then the tissues inside the follicle die and suppuration occurs. At the top of the cone, a purulent head appears with a black rod in the center.
A boil develops usually about a week. Breakthrough occurs after a few days with the release of a large amount of pus, after which a black necrotic rod emerges.
Next, the wound begins to cleanse, and healing occurs quite quickly. As a result, a small whitish scar is formed.

Diagnosis of the disease is not particularly difficult, since its symptoms are quite specific. The disease can be diagnosed in the following ways:

ear palpation;
pulling to the side of the auricle;
pressure on the cartilage tissue at the bottom of the auricle;
examination by an otolaryngologist using special instruments.

Furuncle in the ear canal when examined with an otoscope

If a boil appears in the ear, the first signs will soon make themselves felt. Namely:

itching, burning, discomfort in the ear canal;
redness inside the ear, the appearance of a red tubercle;
painful sensations, sometimes strong, shooting, pain that intensifies when touching the inflamed area, as well as when chewing, talking and other movements of the jaw;
swelling of the ear canal, hearing loss;
headaches or temporal pain on the side of the affected ear;
sometimes fever and enlarged lymph nodes;
sleep disturbance, irritability, short temper, especially if a boil has formed in the child’s ear.
at a late stage of the disease, when spontaneous opening of the boil occurs, purulent discharge from the ear is observed, while pain decreases.

Diagnosis of inflammation does not require special research, since the symptoms are quite simple.

Remember! Before starting treatment, a consultation with a specialist doctor - an otolaryngologist is required.

In the initial stage, the patient feels a burning sensation and discomfort in the affected area. There are also the following symptoms:

increasing pain expands its boundaries, radiating to the temple and jaw from the side of the inflammation;
pressing on the tragus (cartilaginous tubercle), the patient feels pain;
an enlarged abscess blocks the ear canal, reducing hearing;

Diagnostics

In most cases, diagnosing a boil involves examining the auricle and ear canal. This is the task of an otolaryngologist.

Until a boil bursts in the ear, timely examination of the source of pathology, resuscitation measures and conservative treatment are required. A correct diagnosis is half the success on the path to a speedy recovery. Mandatory laboratory tests and clinical examinations in a hospital setting are presented below:

examination of the auricle and canal with an otoscope;
urine test for glucose;
radiography and ultrasound for complicated clinical pictures.

In order to properly organize treatment for a boil in the external auditory canal (or treatment for another location on the organ of hearing), you must first conduct a diagnosis. That is, to determine whether it is really a boil or a regular pimple.

Most often, an adult can make a diagnosis independently.

If negative sensations indicate an abscess in the ear, what can and cannot be done.

examine the affected area with a mirror, pulling back the auricle or pressing on the cartilage above the lobe;
if this is not possible, then carefully feel it with cleanly washed fingers;
wipe with alcohol to disinfect nearby parts of the skin.

You can also identify a boil behind the ear or in the ear visually. But in order to fully verify the presence of this problem and identify the cause that caused such a tumor, you should contact an otolaryngologist.

The doctor performs a visual examination of chiria, feels it and indicates the stage of its development. After this, a course of treatment is prescribed.

Ultrasound and radiography are occasionally used.

There is no need to take tests to diagnose the problem, since the formation of a boil can only contribute to a slight increase in leukocytes in the blood.

How to diagnose a boil:

examination of the patient by a therapist, palpation of the ear;
retraction of the auricle;
impact on the cartilage located at the bottom of the auricle);
examination by an ENT specialist using special instruments.

Diagnosing a boil is not particularly difficult, because the symptoms for inflammation of the external auditory canal are quite specific. Edema of the mastoid process can mislead the doctor or complicate the diagnosis.

With more careful examination and the passage of time, the diagnosis becomes easier.