Symptoms and effective treatment at home for a boil in the ear.

There are two types of inflammation of the external auditory canal: ear furuncle, or limited external otitis (otitis externa circumscripta), and external diffuse otitis (otitis externa diffusa).

Furuncle of the external auditory canal

Etiology

Acute purulent inflammation of the hair follicle, or sebaceous gland, with limited inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous fatty tissue is localized in the membranous-cartilaginous part of the external auditory canal. The disease occurs due to the penetration of streptococci, staphylococci or other pathogens into the skin appendages through scratching, damage to it with nails, matches, pins or as a result of trauma with instruments. The occurrence of a boil is facilitated by a change in the body's reactivity under the influence of metabolic disorders (diabetes), hypovitaminosis, general or local cooling.

Clinical picture

At the beginning of the disease, patients feel a sharp, constantly increasing pain in the ear, which radiates to the eyes, teeth, and the corresponding half of the head. Pain in the ear increases with chewing and talking, since the articular cavity of the temporomandibular joint is the anterior wall of the external auditory canal. In some patients, body temperature may remain normal, but most often it rises, and other signs of intoxication appear.
During an objective examination, swelling of the soft tissues in front and behind the ear or under the auricle is detected. Pressing on the tragus and pulling up the auricle causes increased pain.

If the boil is located in the initial part of the external auditory canal, then at first a spherical swelling of the skin appears on one of its walls, then swelling occurs. If the inflammatory process is located deep in the membranous cartilaginous region, for examination it is necessary to use a narrow funnel, the insertion of which is very painful. After 2-3 days, a pale yellow dot appears in the center of the swelling. This is a necrotic rod that separates, allowing the passage of pus to flow out, after which the pain subsides and stops.

The discharge of pus from the center of the boil can promote the formation of new boils, resulting in the disease lasting several months.

Treatment

Broad-spectrum antibiotics are prescribed. In order to influence the impaired reactivity of the body, multivitamins are prescribed, and locally - heat in the form of a warming compress, a blue lamp, Sollux, UHF. Turundas with a 3% solution of boric alcohol are introduced into the external auditory canal.

When the boil turns into an abscess, an incision is made and the abscess is drained (Fig. 56). After spontaneous opening of the boil, it is necessary to toilet the ear for several days and introduce turundas with a 3% solution of boric alcohol into the external auditory canal to prevent further development of boils.

Rice. 56. Opening a boil of the external auditory canal

If there is a recurrence of the boil, especially in the case of persistent staphylococcal infection, it is necessary to administer staphylococcal toxoid, antistaphylococcal γ-globulin.

External diffuse otitis

Etiology

Diffuse inflammation of the external auditory canal occurs as a result of the penetration of streptococci, staphylococci, pseudomonas or diphtheria bacilli and other pathogens into the skin in the case of scratching, sharp foreign bodies, prolonged suppuration from the middle ear, chemical and thermal damage to the skin. Sometimes this disease is caused by various fungi. In this case, it is called otomycosis.

The causative agents of otomycosis can be molds (Aspergillus, Penicillium) and yeast-like fungi of the genus Candida.

Sensitization of the body to certain pathogens and long-term antibiotic therapy play an important role in the development of the disease. Patients may experience dermatitis in other areas of the skin.

Clinical picture

Patients complain of itching in the ear, burning, pain (but less intense than in the presence of a boil). During otoscopy, hyperemic skin with barely noticeable swelling is first noted (Fig. 57). Over time, the desquamation of the epithelium increases, serous discharge appears, which later becomes purulent. Purulent discharge mixes with the decomposing epithelium, forming a pasty mass with an unpleasant odor that fills the external auditory canal. Possible hearing loss.

Rice. 57. Otoscopic picture in a patient with diffuse external otitis

The inflammatory process covers all layers of the skin. Later, ulcers covered with granulations form. The damage extends to all parts of the external auditory canal and even to the eardrum.

In patients with otomycosis, the inflammatory process is less pronounced. On the skin of the external auditory canal, fungal mycelia are visible, the color of which depends on the type of the latter. This disease can be long-lasting.

Treatment

It is necessary to prohibit the patient from scratching the skin of the external auditory canal with cotton swabs, as this worsens the course of the disease. The ear must be cleaned by rinsing with a 2% solution of boric acid or furatsilin (1: 5000), followed by drying with a dry cotton swab. After cleaning the external auditory canal, 5% streptocidal ointment, syntomycin emulsion, etc. are applied to the skin. A good effect is achieved by using ointments that contain corticosteroids and antibiotics - oxycort, fluorocort, etc.

To treat otomycosis, appropriate drugs are used: clotrimazole (conesten), nitrofungin, mycoseptin, nystatin, decamin ointment, etc. All patients with external diffuse otitis of both bacterial and fungal origin must be prescribed non-specific hyposensitizing therapy - calcium supplements and antihistamines.

Physiotherapeutic procedures are also prescribed: UHF, “Luch-2”, short ultraviolet rays endaurally. Endaural irradiation with a low-energy helium-neon laser gives a good effect.

DI. Zabolotny, Yu.V. Mitin, S.B. Bezshapochny, Yu.V. Deeva

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 boil in the ear forms on the hairy area of ​​the outer auditory layer. At this moment, a dense nodule on the skin becomes inflamed, 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 abscessation, 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 from 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, antibiotic drops are instilled into the ear, and turundas with healing solutions and ointments are placed into 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.

Statistics indicate that about 65% of boils form on the face, most often in the nose and ears. Men are more likely to suffer from boils than women. Also, people aged 12-40 years are more susceptible to this disease.

Diagnosis of the disease

In order to properly organize the treatment of a boil in the external auditory canal (or treatment for another location on the organ of hearing), you must first carry out 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.

• rinse or syringe the ear canal or wash your hair;
• open the abscess with fingernails or improvised objects, as this can lead to serious consequences (thrombophlebitis, sepsis, the formation of difficult-to-treat carbuncles).

If possible, it is better to contact an otolaryngologist, who, under appropriate conditions, using an ear specula, will be able to examine the lesion in detail. He will determine the stage of development of the abscess and the degree of maturation of the capsule with infiltrate and give advice, after examining the boil in the ear, on what to do: conservative treatment or surgical intervention is necessary. Radiation and ultrasound may be used occasionally, mainly in children. A blood test often indicates a slight increase in white blood cell levels, which is natural in this situation.

Removal of boils surgically and therapy in a hospital setting

If, when examining a large abscess, the ENT specialist suspects that he is dealing with a complicated case, home treatment is not the best option. Unreasonably high temperature, severe pain, the risk of the rod breaking through into the internal tissues with pus entering the bloodstream, and involvement of neighboring areas in the process are quite serious arguments. In such cases, you should agree with the specialist’s arguments and go under the scalpel.

Most often, the abscess is opened on the 3-4th day, when maturation ends. The doctor makes a small incision with a scalpel in the place of the highest tension of the abscess, after which he removes the necrotic core and pus, treats the wound with a 5% iodine solution and places a drainage (gauze turunda moistened with saline solution). Turunda removes the emerging fluid, and the hypertonic fluid dries the wound. The entire procedure is performed under local anesthesia. After surgery, the affected area should be treated with antiseptics or antibiotic drops (Ofloxacin, Neomycin) for several days to avoid relapse.

The question is often asked: if a boil (boil) bursts in the ear, what should you do? It is advisable to go to the nearest hospital. There, in a hospital setting, the doctor will rinse the canal with a solution of hydrogen peroxide and bandage it, after applying a tampon soaked in hypertonic liquid, dimexide or ointment (Levomekol, Vishnevsky) to the wound. The main task of the otolaryngologist in this case is to prevent the spread of infection.

In case of a complex course of the disease, the patient may be offered to undergo autohemotherapy. These are intramuscular injections of the patient's own blood, taken from his vein, after ultraviolet irradiation. Infusions are given every other day (maximum 15 times) and show good results in combination with antibiotics.

Conservative treatment

By immediately paying attention to the unpleasant sensations in the organ of hearing and diagnosing a boil, you can try to prevent it from ripening. Turunda with antibacterial impregnation is inserted into the ear canal. For impregnation the following are used:

• ethyl alcohol solution 60%;
• a mixture of iodine and alcohol;
• a mixture of iodine with a 5% solution of silver nitrate.

Ultraviolet irradiation and UHF therapy, which are used in complex therapy, help well.

If the disease is discovered late or treatment with alcohol does not produce an effect, you can speed up the process of maturation of the boil in the ear, and how to treat it with the help of warming agents. For this, both special pulling ointments (Vishnevsky, tar) and saline solution are suitable. It is convenient to use such remedies if the boil is on the earlobe, behind the ear; treatment consists of attaching a cotton swab soaked with special agents to the affected area with a plaster for several hours or overnight.

In order for the abscess to mature quickly, it is advisable to use dry heat. Typically the following devices are used:

• a heating pad with warm water;
• a bag of heated sand or salt;
• mirror lamp (Minin reflector).

However, the use of heat should be limited (no more than 15 minutes per day), otherwise Staphylococcus aureus can enter the bloodstream and cause sepsis.

If an abscess develops, antibiotics must be used. Applicable:

• amoxicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, Rulide, oral streptocide;
• penicillin in the form of injections in difficult cases.

Elevated temperature and the development of pathogenic flora are combated with the help of:

• painkillers and antipyretics (acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, ibuprofen);
• anti-inflammatory drugs (efferalgan, panadol).

To avoid the infiltrate from getting into the ear canal after an independent (natural) opening, the patient is recommended to sleep only on his side, with the affected organ on a pillow. Otherwise, microorganisms can penetrate deeper and provoke a boil in the middle ear, the treatment of which is more dangerous and painful.

Features in children

If a boil (boil) appears in a child’s ear, treatment at home should begin at a very early stage. If one follicle is affected, the child is prescribed conservative therapy, which consists of cleansing the area around the abscess and applying compresses with rivanol, vodka or warming ointments.

In some cases, the abscess is pricked on all sides with antibiotics to prevent its spread. In case of surgical intervention, children are prescribed antibiotics, as well as a course of vitamins and drugs to boost immunity. This is done to prevent the infection from spreading throughout the body and rashes in other parts of the body.

ethnoscience

Some tips on how to cure a boil in the ear using folk remedies:

1. Mix honey and rye flour to the consistency of plasticine, make a cake, apply to the sore spot and secure. Change the bandage after 5 hours, preferably at night.
2. Use a mixture of Vishnevsky ointment (30%) and fir oil (70%) as a warming compress. Change 2-3 times a day.
3. Soak a strip of linen fabric in vegetable oil and rub with garlic. Under the influence of this compress, the abscess will open quickly.
4. Fry a little grated garlic and onion (50/50) in vegetable oil. Change the bandage three times a day until recovery.
5. Pour flaxseed oil into the cavity of the bulb and bake it in the oven. The juice squeezed from the bulb is dripped into the ear canal.

Brew a tincture of string and lingonberry leaves in equal proportions. A tablespoon of the mixture per glass of boiling water, leave for an hour, then strain. Drink 50 grams half an hour before meals for 2 weeks.

According to many people, a common pimple in the ear does not pose any danger to hearing, much less to life. At the same time, you need to understand that a formed abscess of the outer ear without treatment against a background of weakened immunity can even lead to death.

This happens rarely, for this several factors must coincide, but at the beginning of the disease no one knows how it will progress, so it is advisable to know what an abscess of the outer ear is, what types there are, and what to do with it.

External ear abscess

An abscess of the outer ear itself is a necrotic lesion of the ear canal or auricle. An advanced disease involves not only soft tissues, but also penetrating the cranial nerves and meninges.

In most cases, serious progression of the disease occurs in people with immunodeficiency or diabetes.

But in a person with simply a severely weakened immune system, an abscess of the outer ear without treatment can lead to serious consequences.

The reasons for the appearance of an abscess can be either the ingress of bacteria from the outside or due to the penetration of pus during the disease.

A banal scratch of the external auditory canal with a match or a fingernail is fraught with serious inflammation, and this also applies to excessive hygiene. The disease affects people of any age, develops differently and has several types and varieties.

In general, ear abscess refers to external otitis, but inflammation is different. diffuse otitis may occur due to an untreated abscess.

Simple limited - this is the same abscess formed by a carbuncle or inflamed atheroma.

An abscess may appear in the ear canal, on the lobe, or behind the ear. This gives rise to varieties of the disease that have pronounced differences.

Varieties

Limited external otitis, even with mild symptoms, requires observation and subsequent treatment. A blockage of the sebaceous gland, left unattended and turning into suppuration, can lead to the appearance of an abscess.

Regarding localization, three types of abscesses are most often distinguished:

• Behind the ear
• On the earlobe
• Subperiosteal.

The last type of abscess is especially dangerous; it is a subperiosteal abscess, which can cause the inflammatory process to penetrate to its maximum depth. Abscesses behind the ear are the most common occurrence - atheromas that arise in this area often become inflamed.

Atheromas of the earlobe also tend to fester, but more often inflammation occurs due to. These can be scratches from nails or earrings, and abscesses on the lobe often occur after ear piercing.

Photos of types of ear abscess in humans

Symptoms

One of the main symptoms of the disease is moderate to severe ear pain. With limited external otitis, the pain is focused at the site of inflammation of the hair follicle.

A diffuse necrotic process can cause severe pain throughout the ear. In some cases, a diffuse form of otitis externa may occur due to an untreated boil in the ear canal.

Along with pain, frequent accompaniments of an abscess are:

1. Increased body temperature.
2. The presence of redness and narrowing of the ear canal.
3. Obvious swelling or appearance of an abscess.

Young children are not able to tell about hearing loss or congestion, they may develop a fever, discharge from the ear, as well as other visual manifestations.

Parents should pay attention to the child's restlessness, crying, or a ban on touching the sore ear. Abscesses on the lobe and behind the ear are clearly visible; parents should not wait for them to enlarge - they must immediately consult a doctor for timely treatment.

Treatment

Treatment of an abscess is quite diverse - it is impossible to get by with just one type. Drug and physiotherapeutic treatment is usually carried out, and surgical intervention is also often required.

In addition, there are various folk methods, but you should not rely on them entirely, although, on the recommendation of a doctor, they can be used in combination with traditional treatment.

Medication

For an abscess, antibiotics or antiviral drugs are prescribed in most cases. Since the disease is most often caused by bacteria, antibiotics in the form of ointments, drops, tablets and injections are almost always present.

Even when treating an abscess caused by fungi, antibacterial therapy is necessary due to the high probability of infection.

It is also necessary to use antiseptic solutions to treat the outer ear during daily hygiene. In some cases, the treatment process is carried out twice or more per day, but after overcoming the disease, it is necessary to switch to cleaning the external auditory canal no more than once a week.

ethnoscience

Since most often the disease is bacterial in nature, doctors do not recommend home compresses. For treatment, you can use rubs, drops, turundas and lotions of the following:

• Juice of roasted garlic or onion
• Alcohol tinctures of propolis or celandine
• Aloe and Kalanchoe juice (medicinal species of these plants)
• Infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs (chamomile, calendula, etc.).

It will also be useful to use various fortifying and anti-inflammatory decoctions instead of drinking. You should not give in to the desire to squeeze out the abscess yourself - this can be even more dangerous than simply leaving it without treatment.

Any folk methods must be combined with traditional medicine.

Physiotherapy and alternative methods

The most common procedure for ear abscesses is actinotherapy. This procedure can be conditionally called “light” treatment due to the use of lamps with infrared and ultraviolet light.

At the final stages of treatment, UHF and paraffin therapy are used, and in the case of other inflammatory processes in the ear, iontophoresis with medicinal substances can be used.

Physiotherapy cannot replace medications in full - treatment procedures must be combined with medications.

It is necessary to take measures to restore immunity - this is one of the alternative methods of treating any chronic diseases of the ears and nasopharynx.

Surgical intervention

Often the presence of an abscess requires surgery. In the initial stage of the disease, a global operation is not required - a simple excision of the abscess is required to remove the contents.

Not everyone is prescribed an abscess incision - it depends on its size, the patient’s immunity, his age and general condition.

In some cases, doctors try to stop the inflammatory process without surgery. This is mainly practiced at the very beginning of the disease and when the patient is in good health with the obligatory use of antibiotics.

Attention is also drawn to the size of the abscess and if it increases, surgical opening is inevitable.

How to properly treat an ear abscess, watch our video:

Prevention

As with many other ear diseases, abscesses can be prevented.

1. The most important things in this process are strengthening the immune system, proper hygiene, and preventing hypothermia and overheating.
2. To strengthen the immune system, it is necessary to use various hardening systems, vitamin and mineral therapy, diet, as well as regular exposure to the open air.
3. It is especially worth highlighting air baths, especially for children. Constantly wearing a hat, even in warm weather, cannot help protect against ear diseases. It is necessary to promptly remove your hat at high temperatures outside, and also put it on during windy and cold weather.
4. It is also especially worth highlighting proper ear care and hygiene in general. Excessive cleansing efforts can injure the skin of the ear canal and provoke infection. Ears should be cleaned carefully and no more than once a week.
5. It is necessary to pay attention to the hygiene of hands and nails - do not reach into the ear with dirty fingers. Especially if the nails are quite long or sharp.
6. The same applies to the use of objects unsuitable for hygiene - hairpins and matches should not be used to clean the ears or overcome itching.

Prevention plays an important role in preventing the disease, but when it occurs, one cannot rely on chance; treatment must be started.

The disease comes in different types, some of which can cause serious damage to health, so you should not neglect both prevention and timely treatment.

If you clean your ears incorrectly, you can scratch the skin. If at this time there is a staphylococcus virus in the wound, an inflammatory process will begin, which will cause the formation of a boil. Also, its appearance can be affected by reduced immunity, prolonged use of antibiotics, inflammation after a cold, hypovitaminosis, diseases of the digestive and endocrine systems.

Whatever the cause of the appearance of a boil in the ear, it causes extremely unpleasant and painful sensations, and therefore the question arises: how to cure a boil as quickly as possible?

A furuncle (popularly called a boil) in the outer ear is formed due to purulent inflammation of the hair follicle, sebaceous glands and the connective tissue located around them. Suppuration is caused by pyogenic viruses, in particular Staphylococcus aureus. A boil in the ear leads to swelling of the ear canal and causes compression of the nerve fibers, contributing to the appearance of severe headaches.

It takes about ten days for a boil to form in the external auditory canal. The first two days after infection, an infiltrate develops, an accumulation in one place of cellular elements mixed with blood and lymph, as a result of which the skin turns red, gradually thickens and becomes purple-bluish in color.

Over the next three days, a purulent core forms with a vesicle located at the top. Over the next few days, suppuration and necrosis of the inflamed cells occurs, after which the boil in the ear matures, the vesicle bursts, pus flows out and recovery occurs.

Since a boil can burst in your sleep, you should sleep during inflammation only on the side of the inflamed ear: pus should not penetrate through the ear canal to the eardrum and cause more serious inflammation.

The following symptoms indicate the presence of suppuration in the ear canal:

• The appearance of severe pain in the outer ear, as well as from the inflamed ear;
• Painful sensations appear while chewing or talking;
• Itching, burning and swelling in the ear canal;
• Enlarged parotid lymph nodes;
• Temperature increase.

The presence of a boil in the ear is especially difficult to endure due to the fact that incessantly shooting pains in the ears cause loss of ability to work, especially in people engaged in mental work. Another symptom that accompanies the disease is general weakness and the appearance of irritability.

The peculiarity of a boil is that you cannot remove it yourself by pressing or opening it. This often leads to the infection spreading to neighboring tissues, as a result of which the symptoms of the disease do not go away and health deteriorates: there are a lot of nerve endings in the head leading to the cerebral cortex. Therefore, any complication is fraught with serious consequences and can directly threaten life.

Treatment

If a boil is detected in the external auditory canal, then it is advisable to consult a doctor to receive detailed advice on how to treat it. To remove boils at the initial stage of development, they usually use alcohol or vodka compresses, lubricate the inflammation with iodine or other disinfectants, place tampons in the ear, applying Vishnevsky's pus-drawing ointment or tar ointment to them. Under the influence of such manipulations, a warmed boil in the ear matures and bursts much faster.

In order to speed up the development of an abscess in the external auditory canal, you can use a heating pad: to do this, fill it with hot water, wrap it in a terry towel, lie down with the inflamed ear on it and lie there for about fifteen minutes. This is no longer recommended as it may allow Staphylococcus aureus to pass into the blood and cause infection.

You can treat the ear with warming procedures under the supervision of a doctor: to stimulate the growth of a boil, the doctor may prescribe warming physiotherapy or ultraviolet irradiation. To avoid further spread of infection and relieve pain, the doctor prescribes ear drops with antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effects, and sometimes injects antibiotics into the boil.

Treatment of a complicated case

Despite the fact that usually a boil in the ear disappears on its own, sometimes it grows to a significant size, takes a long time to mature, causing severe pain.

In such cases, the doctor may prescribe antibiotics in the form of injections or tablets to cure the boil. Usually this is Tetracycline or Erythromycin, but here it is of no small importance whether the person has an individual intolerance to the components of the medicine. Also, such treatment is not prescribed during pregnancy, nursing mothers, and with caution - small children.

If the boil turns out to be the cause of a very high temperature, this is an alarming symptom, and the doctor may insist on hospitalization: blood poisoning is possible, and therefore surgery is possible; in order to minimize this option, the disease must be properly treated.

To do this, immunostimulants and vitamins are first prescribed, the boil is treated with tampons, Vishnevsky ointment, tar ointment or Levomekol ointment, if this does not help - with Dimexide solution, diluted with boiled water in proportions 1:5, for delicate skin - 1:10 (such a solution will eliminate the possibility chemical burn of the ear canal).

If all the measures taken do not help, and the boil continues to increase in size, accompanied by painful symptoms, doctors decide to remove the boil: under anesthesia, they make an incision and remove the rod along with the affected cells. After surgery, the doctor prescribes medications (usually antibiotics), ointments, and immunomodulators for recovery.

Prevention

In order to prevent the formation of a boil in the outer ear, it is necessary to ensure that the ears are dry, especially for those with sensitive skin. To do this, while washing your hair, you need to try to do everything so that water, shampoo, and soap do not get into the outer ear.

You need to clean your ears very carefully; when using cotton swabs, you must keep in mind that they are intended for cleaning the ears, but not the ear canals. To clean the ear canal, you need to twist a flagellum from cotton wool, moisten it in hydrogen peroxide, squeeze it out and place it in the ear for five minutes.

If the ear has been scratched, it is necessary to treat it with antiseptics or anti-inflammatory ointments, otherwise there is a high probability of infection getting into the wound, which will cause inflammation, suppuration and will be more difficult to treat.

Considering that the appearance of a boil in the external auditory canal is often affected by hypovitaminosis, it is necessary to take vitamins and eat as many vegetables and fruits as possible in the summer.

You can improve your health by hardening your body, spending a long time in the fresh air, taking sun and air baths.