Its a relief to know Its NOT just me! Im 55 and this has been happening for at least 2 years. I drink a glass of wine a few times a year, so its not the alcohol. I have never smoked or done any drugs, so thats out. I dont drink Caffeine. Im not ADD or ADHD. Blood pressure is low to normal. I had a radical hysterectomy at 39, and have been on HRT since then. Ive considered requesting a change in type, or dosage, of HRT medication, but now Im not so sure thats what it is. I do have Rosacea, and the heat from my ear triggers the Rosacea, so its annoying in that respect also. It had ALWAYS been my right ear, but the last month or so it has been only the left, and it itches on the outer top part of my ear, when it heats up. The right ear never itched.. I dont really mind the red, just the HEAT and itching! I have it in the afternoon, and when I first get up in the morning almost daily. I sleep fine and I get plenty of sleep. I dont know if I get hot because of the weather or the fire on my ear! I cant stand the pillow on my ears, so Ive been using a Buckwheat pillow. The down pillows make my ears too hot. I sleep with a fan on my face to keep my ears cool, and turn the thermostat to 66 at night. In a hot car I have the air conditioning trained on my ears or ear ignition is guaranteed! Last night I bought a rechargeable fan to carry with me (This is getting annoying!) I will start keeping a journal of foods to see if there is any correlation. Its become a daily affair and you would think there is SOMETHING that could be done! The last couple of days Ive taken Benadryl I thought that might help the itching. AND, I think its helped. Thanks for all the posts and to Peterbe.com for providing the forum! Good luck to all! Holly
Hey folks, sounds like we have a large crew of red ear sufferers out there. IF only doctors would listen to us. As many have mentioned, I too was tested for systemic mastocytosis. In fact, I have a family history of allergy and asthma and have them myself. I figured out the red years and face come on when i am having a reaction to something. i went to johns hopkins medical center in washington, dc and was diagnosed as having migraines, with a particular type of neuralgia that sensitizes the trigeminal nerve or some other nerve in the head, causing autonomic symptoms like facial flushing. but, i have found no relief, except for using a migraine free diet prescribed to me by dr. david buccholz at johns hopkins. he has a book out. if you have unilateral headches with the ear reddness, you might want to try this diet. it really works. i know i also get red when exposed to dust mite containing items-which i am allergic to and when i am exposed to alternaria mold spores. they , like dust mites, are everywhere. i also get twitching of the eye on the same side of the head that i get the headache on. such symptoms suggest autonomic nervous system componenets. i get the chills, and i thought i was the only 44 year old man to know exactly what woman go through when they have hot flashes. i get profuse sweating of the forhead,too. recently, doctors at stanford university medical center in california gave me cyclosporine, an immune system suppressant thinking it may reduce my allergic sensitivities and therefore reduce the redness. didn't work. i have been on all kinds of antihistamines for the condition. some may benefit for periactin-one antihistamine that is effective with headaches. i thought the reddness was all i got since childhood, but what has happened is i have lost part of my hearing because when my ears get red i also get a mucos drainage from my ears. i used to have dizziness and balance problems with the reddness, but that was alleviated when i asked the doctor to put holes in my eardrums. this allowed me to drain the fluid from my ears. amazing, the kid that was terrible at sports as a kid because of drainage that was in the eustachian tube but unknown now has excellent balance because the eustachian tubes drain every day. Problem is I have 38% hearing loss in one ear and 28% in the other. to date i am in contact with two neurologists who have discussed the use of the the drug indocin to treat red ears and facial flushing when it is accompanied by headache on one side of the head-unilateral headache. mine leads to migraines. the drug topiramate -check spelling-is also used. I moved from new york city to california to decrease the reddness and flushing, etc , and it has helped because i am outdoors more and less exposed to dust mites and mold spores-alternaria to be exact. i reduced the ear redness about 35%. I've tried botox injections to the head and that didn't help. i had nasal surgery to relieve what a doctor behin, md, christ hospital, new jersey, called contact point migraines, and i had a vagus nerve stimu;ator implanted in my chest to alter my brain waves to eliminate the migraines. no help there. however, some have found the vagus nerve stimulator works for migraines. i developed an infection so it had to come out. if you get red ears with other neurological symptoms, visual distortions, head pain, tingling in head, hands or feet, you should see a neurologist. . suing a down pillow will lead to the production fo dust mites , so that may be a cause of some people's red ears-if you get them through the night and the morning, along with rhinitis-it could be a sure bet. see an allergist. at least, go hyperallergenic-cover your pillows in vinyl or get allergy control product covers. i'll le tyou know what feedback i get from the docs at the mayo clinic, who i have just re-established contact with. incidentally, imagine, my partner is an emergency room physician-no help for this at all.
Comment
Its a relief to know Its NOT just me! Im 55 and this has been happening for at least 2 years. I drink a glass of wine a few times a year, so its not the alcohol. I have never smoked or done any drugs, so thats out. I dont drink Caffeine. Im not ADD or ADHD. Blood pressure is low to normal. I had a radical hysterectomy at 39, and have been on HRT since then. Ive considered requesting a change in type, or dosage, of HRT medication, but now Im not so sure thats what it is.
I do have Rosacea, and the heat from my ear triggers the Rosacea, so its annoying in that respect also. It had ALWAYS been my right ear, but the last month or so it has been only the left, and it itches on the outer top part of my ear, when it heats up. The right ear never itched.. I dont really mind the red, just the HEAT and itching! I have it in the afternoon, and when I first get up in the morning almost daily. I sleep fine and I get plenty of sleep.
I dont know if I get hot because of the weather or the fire on my ear! I cant stand the pillow on my ears, so Ive been using a Buckwheat pillow. The down pillows make my ears too hot. I sleep with a fan on my face to keep my ears cool, and turn the thermostat to 66 at night. In a hot car I have the air conditioning trained on my ears or ear ignition is guaranteed! Last night I bought a rechargeable fan to carry with me (This is getting annoying!)
I will start keeping a journal of foods to see if there is any correlation. Its become a daily affair and you would think there is SOMETHING that could be done! The last couple of days Ive taken Benadryl I thought that might help the itching. AND, I think its helped.
Thanks for all the posts and to Peterbe.com for providing the forum!
Good luck to all!
Holly
Replies
Hey folks, sounds like we have a large crew of red ear sufferers out there. IF only doctors would listen to us. As many have mentioned, I too was tested for systemic mastocytosis. In fact, I have a family history of allergy and asthma and have them myself. I figured out the red years and face come on when i am having a reaction to something. i went to johns hopkins medical center in washington, dc and was diagnosed as having migraines, with a particular type of neuralgia that sensitizes the trigeminal nerve or some other nerve in the head, causing autonomic symptoms like facial flushing. but, i have found no relief, except for using a migraine free diet prescribed to me by dr. david buccholz at johns hopkins. he has a book out. if you have unilateral headches with the ear reddness, you might want to try this diet. it really works. i know i also get red when exposed to dust mite containing items-which i am allergic to and when i am exposed to alternaria mold spores. they , like dust mites, are everywhere. i also get twitching of the eye on the same side of the head that i get the headache on. such symptoms suggest autonomic nervous system componenets. i get the chills, and i thought i was the only 44 year old man to know exactly what woman go through when they have hot flashes. i get profuse sweating of the forhead,too. recently, doctors at stanford university medical center in california gave me cyclosporine, an immune system suppressant thinking it may reduce my allergic sensitivities and therefore reduce the redness. didn't work. i have been on all kinds of antihistamines for the condition. some may benefit for periactin-one antihistamine that is effective with headaches. i thought the reddness was all i got since childhood, but what has happened is i have lost part of my hearing because when my ears get red i also get a mucos drainage from my ears. i used to have dizziness and balance problems with the reddness, but that was alleviated when i asked the doctor to put holes in my eardrums. this allowed me to drain the fluid from my ears. amazing, the kid that was terrible at sports as a kid because of drainage that was in the eustachian tube but unknown now has excellent balance because the eustachian tubes drain every day. Problem is I have 38% hearing loss in one ear and 28% in the other. to date i am in contact with two neurologists who have discussed the use of the the drug indocin to treat red ears and facial flushing when it is accompanied by headache on one side of the head-unilateral headache. mine leads to migraines. the drug topiramate -check spelling-is also used. I moved from new york city to california to decrease the reddness and flushing, etc , and it has helped because i am outdoors more and less exposed to dust mites and mold spores-alternaria to be exact. i reduced the ear redness about 35%. I've tried botox injections to the head and that didn't help. i had nasal surgery to relieve what a doctor behin, md, christ hospital, new jersey, called contact point migraines, and i had a vagus nerve stimu;ator implanted in my chest to alter my brain waves to eliminate the migraines. no help there. however, some have found the vagus nerve stimulator works for migraines. i developed an infection so it had to come out. if you get red ears with other neurological symptoms, visual distortions, head pain, tingling in head, hands or feet, you should see a neurologist. . suing a down pillow will lead to the production fo dust mites , so that may be a cause of some people's red ears-if you get them through the night and the morning, along with rhinitis-it could be a sure bet. see an allergist. at least, go hyperallergenic-cover your pillows in vinyl or get allergy control product covers. i'll le tyou know what feedback i get from the docs at the mayo clinic, who i have just re-established contact with. incidentally, imagine, my partner is an emergency room physician-no help for this at all.