I have psoriatic arthritis and I have never had psoriasis however it is now possible that I have psoriasis in the ear canal. The dermatologists thinks that it could be psoriasis but my family doctor thinks that it is something else. Does anyone on here have psoriasis in their ear? I would like to know if your ear weeps at the beginning of a flare. Thanks.
do you have psoriasis in your ear canal?: I have... - NRAS
do you have psoriasis in your ear canal?
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Yes I do. Drives me insane! Antibiotic steroid drops help but you can't have them too often. Combination of weepy, dry, flaky, and and itchy as hell!
It is terrible, isn’t it! So itchy. And it usually starts to weep in my sleep. I wake up, feel the wet and know that I am going to be miserable. And they say no scratching with a Qtip. Do you have psoriasis other places too?
Yes I do. I had one horrendous flare up about 15 years ago and was covered. Fortunately it's now mostly my toenails, ears and the odd patch here and there. Tge ears are a real misery. Toenails drop off if I do long walks. Lovely! 🤢 I've had some awful ear infections from the psoriasis in my lugs.
Same. I have PsA but never really had bad skin psoriasis. But I get nail pitting and my toenails lift off the nail bed or fall off. Sometimes a new nail starts growing underneath before it's fully fallen off so I have two toenails on the same toe 🤢.
I am noticing that my big toe nail is changing. Darn it. It is so scary how much of the body this disease affects. Just so depressing. No wonder people with these conditions feel sad.
The dermatologist gave me Zortve to try. It is new. Maybe you can get it where you live. It is supposed to be good for long term use. I actually get scabs in my ears! I can't even assess any changes because a person can't see in their own ear. And the pharmacy label says that I am to use it once a day in my ear and to rub it in until it is no longer visible. Seriously!?
I put a tissue round a cotton bud to rub in the cream in my ears….but I don’t push it down …just at the top of the canal & it sort of seeps down…..nobody has fingers small enough to do that!
My itchy ears have been diagnosed as Dermatitis (I don’t have psoriatic arthritis);
My Dermatologist prescribes a mild steroid cream & it does help….I was told to use it for 7 days, then use Vaseline until the itching starts again. The dermatologist reckons it will never go away.
I think he is right, because if I I think it has gone away and stop using both…It just comes back.
Not perfect, but bearable.
I wonder why it will never go away? Does your ear weep? I will wake up and my ear will feel wet. That is how I know the cycle is starting up again. Weep, itchy, sore, scabs and flakes. My family doctor says he sees no plaque. The dermatologist said that she can’t be sure of what it is because she would use a punch for a biopsy on any other part but can’t use it in the ear.
I don’t know….but I do get urticaria at the drop of a hat. I have had umpteen allergy investigations..& I’m only allergic to normal type things like House dust & pollens….and supposedly Silverbirch trees, but I lived in a house a years ago that was surrounded by them and I never had any particular allergic reactions to them
I think my ears are very irritated by my hearing aids. The audiologist insists they are hyper allergenic..but I honestly think my ears are worse when I wear them regularly. Now, I don’t wear them in the house and in fact I only wear them if I am going somewhere I particularly want to hear what’s going on and that doesn’t include when I go shopping!
But strangely enough last week they deed weep for a couple of days..for no reason I could think of.
Mine weep at the beginning of every cycle. I am going to start using the vaseline. Thanks. The doctor gave me Zoryve to try. I checked and it can be used for dermatitis, too. It is supposed to be ok to use long term.
I have been using this cream + Vaseline for about 4 years now & although it’s not perfect…it certainly has made my itchy ears more comfortable…in fact I am just waiting to see if my dermatologist will just renew the prescription or if I have to see him first. If there is any change in the meds I’ll let you know.
I was diagnosed with Excema (spelt wrong) in my ear canal years ago and was told it was swimmers ears as I swam 5 days a week. Mine drives me mad with the itching and weeping . It’s fine for a little while and then starts all over again. I was prescribed Eumovate ointment to use every day for a week and then stop. It does help but it always come back within a short while. I will need hearing aids at some point but I can’t bear the thought of having them in my ears.
I don’t think it should interfere with your hearing…..I had it for years before I started to lose my hearing..I have only had to wear a hearing aid in both ears since I had nasty reactions to the Covid vaccinations.
I use the cream I have for 7 days, then use Vaseline.
Also if you see an audiologist they should have someting like a mini vacuum that sucks out all the dead skin that falls in to your ears, that seemed to work well for me.
I think it’s so difficult to get rid of because you can’t get air to it - to let the skin breathe can you.?
Yes, I was under a ent specialist that used to do that but that stopped when my appointment coincided with my ears being ok so I found myself being told I didn’t need to be seen anymore no matter what I said. Within a few days my ears were bad again! I already had hearing loss when I was diagnosed and it’s gradually got worse lately.
I know! Isn’t it awful when the appointments come at the wrong time!
I was wondering if scabs would fall into my ears and this cause an infection. It is hard because we can’t see into our ears.
I don’t think so…
I have had this problem for many years & I have never had an ear infection.
If my ears do weep,I wrap a tissue soaked in hot salt water..but well squeezed out…..around a Qtip & carefully just sort of press just around the edge of the canal….don’t know, if it doesn’t any good, but it makes me feel as if I’m doing something about it!
I am going to try this!
Don’t do it too hot..& squeeze out most of the liquid!
Ok!
I was swimming everyday when I got this but if this is from swimming why doesn’t it just go away now that I am not swimming! My family doctor said he could see no plaque and said it is some sort of dermititis. I certainly wish I would have a definitive diagnosis but I guess without a punch biopsy they can’t know.
I have often wondered the same thing about giving up swimming and still having the problem. I get scabs which then seem to weep and the itch is horrendous. So difficult not to try and scratch it isn’t it.
I think for me it is first weeping and then I get the scabs. It hurts when it weeps and itches the rest of the time. Yes, it is so awful. It just takes so much energy to try to be happy and not scratch despite this constant terrible itchy feeling.
I get plaques in my ears. horrible, that itch! I wasprescribed sleepy antihistamines so I can sleep deeper and not scratch when they're at their worst. I think the weepies come on when the dry skin cracks and the cracked skin lets out fluid and then mixes with the wax and dead skin in a warm damp place. I'm sorry to hear yer battling this.
Thank you. I am sorry you have been dealing with this! I am really feeling sorry for my self. What next? Never even knew that people could get plaquas in their ears.
one thing I was told tho. if it's a good normal run of the mill 😳 bit of minor 😬 infection goo 🤢, it should clear up on its own as if it was a skinned knee. like, three days, not getting worse. back on the roller skates 🛼. but if it's lasting longer, or feeling worse, or, um, colorful..., it is good to get it checked out. even if the psoriasis isn't near yer eardrum, the residue might get near, and if it is bacterial, a medic can take a swab and see if application or ingestion of something might be useful. if you 🫵 have any question, ask ask ask. psoriasis is an autoimmune condition. it's usually a condition that crops up repeatedly. asking now means you'll know more sooner. I've had plaques on my elbow staring at like age eight, I still have questions, but I'm at the point where I kinda know when I need help and when I can just sit back and... not scratch 🫣.the zoryve is an inhibiting medicine, not so much to treat a plaque that's there but to prevent or make less what plaques do appear, according to the patient information leaflet. and the instruction about 'till you can't see it anymore' is just lifted from the patient information leaflet too, I think. no logic. I think they just mean till it's absorbed.
sorry if I'm writing too much. I'm in a fighting/ advocacy mode at the moment. gp and rheumatology and my son's carer support and physiotherapy all needed some ring on in the past two weeks. take whatever seems useful and discard the rest!
kind regards
cath tyler
Yes - I have exactly that. I have psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. Medical people say it's not psoriasis in my ears, but it is 100% because it acts like my skin in other places.
Interesting they say it isn’t psoriasis.
Yes, the only areas that I have ever experienced psoriasis are in my ears, and also in my nose, never cleared up until I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis and treated with dmards and biologics. Has not come back since in the two years I've been treated, after suffering with it my entire life. My toenails are extremely thick and discolored, occasionally lift off the bed as well, however those have improved with medication too.
I’ve been on a Biologic for 6 years & it hasn’t made any difference,,,,my ears still itch.
I am leflunimide and cosentryx. Sad that that doesn’t appear to be enough.
I have PsA and mild psoriasis - plaques on my elbows, some on my scalp , on my left eyelid and my right ear canal. I'm very fortunate none weep. I also have some nail involvement and inverse psoriasis, the only region that does weep.
The skin under my left eye and my right eyelid turm red and flake. What is the difference between a scab and plaques? How is inverse psoriasis different from psoriasis? I am glad you have this only in the one ear. I will stop worrying about it happening in my other ear!
I think of a scab as being the healing of a wound and, for me, plaques are rough (but a little scabby looking) areas that don't result from a wound.
Inverse psoriasis is in areas like the groin, under the breasts - area that aren't really exposed to the air. Mine has always been very red and often moist, it weeps.
Thank you for your response and helpful information.
Never actually diagnosed with psoriasis by a dermatologist but both GP and rheumatologist are convinced that my scalp and ears have it. The scalp has been there for nearly 50 years, but the ears started about 10 years ago. Drives me crazy. Both scalp and ears weep, but only when I scratch. Mtx seems tohelp
Poor you. I don’t have Psoriasis but was initially diagnosed with sero negative ? Psoriatic Arthritis? RA but one of the Biologics caused Pustular Psoriasis of my nails which were a terrible state for about 4 years. No other signs of Psoriasis however I have one ear that drives me mad itching continuously. I have to admit I do resort to using cotton buds. It dosnt weep though. It may be worth me getting it checked out.
Hope you get some answers x
I have wondered this recently too! I've had psoriasis for almost 30 years, mostly on my scalp, but sometimes behind my ears, tops of feet and the occasional patch on my arms or stomach. In the past year, after developing joint, nail & worsening digestive problems, I've had some terrible itching and soreness in my ear canal, as well as something different on the outside of each ear. I suspect the inner ear thing might be psoriasis, especially after reading other people's descriptions on this thread. The other ear thing is complicated, as I've been so stressed over the past year, I've had a tendency to pick it without realising I'm doing it, so it might be my fault (to an extent - I have autism & ADHD, which seem to be connected to skin picking, although I've never done it before and I'm in my early 40s). Anyway, my ear canal itches like mad and sore, but not sure it weeps for me, unless I'm mistaking it for wax. You have my sympathies - it drives me mad sometimes and just want to get a cotton bud in there for a good scratch.
It's so frustrating when you can't figure out what's going on for sure, isn't it? My finger nail involvement looks more like Lupus or Systemic Sclerosis, but my toe nails look like psoriasis. I think I've narrowed it down to possibly about five conditions, but who knows?!
I now have some patches of something on my lower back which are possibly psoriasis, only in the past couple of months, but not sure what they are. I've been referred to Dermatology from Rheumatology (only to treat Erythromelalgia), but the waiting list is 15-18 months, so I don't think I'll be getting any input from them anytime soon!
Hopefully they will look at everything once you get in. Maybe they will do a punch so they can give you a definitive answer. It isn’t fun having these extra problems popping up. They say don’t scratch but I do! Take care.
What meds are you on for PSA? I too suffer from it so was wondering. My condition causes great pain in fingers and tendinopathy in elbows.
Cosentyx and leflunimide. So disappointed i am still getting worse.
l have an acute pain around my earlobes , So acute that l can’t touch it. Then it goes away gradually. I have frequent attacks. ENT couldn’t find any answers or my rheumatologist. It comes and go. I noticed some times the pain starts after Shower,l have found my own temporary remedy. I apply heat pad to find some relief. It could not be diagnosed.An6 comment .
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