Ear picking?

I too have been suffering the same horrible habit. It started with a case of swimmers ear. I have been over cleaning the ear for 3 years, The only cure was to use Hydrocortizone 1% cream. Literally 2 days after using it, my ears stopped itching. My doctor said that because of the constant itching and picking and cleaning, that I decreased my body's ability to create ear wax which is key to cure. I am glad to say I am pick free for 3 months now and not embarrassed any longer to get close enough to someone so they can see my ears. 1% Hyrocortizone cream - hopefully that will help you as well. Good Luck, Mike

wow so you guys do this too? I'm nowhere near as serious as you guys but i have been doing this on and off for 20 years or so. It just feels good, that's why I do it. I hardly ever do it with q-tips though. I usually take a pen apart and do it with the skinny long tube inside the pen (where the ink is). I obviously use the end without the pen tip. I also sometimes simply unfold a paper clip. That seems to work best. I do it for no other reason simply because it feels kinda good, and sometimes the inner ear gets a little itchy. I don't have OCD's, nor do I feel like my ears are nasty and in need of contstant cleaning. I just do it cuz it feels good. A few times over the last 20 years, I went in too far and hit my ear drum. Nothing too serious but that is a burst of pain you will never forget. I'm sure each of you have done it a few times...OUCH. Anyway, glad to know that I'm not the only one that has this odd little habit.

I have been picking and digging in my ears for the past year. It all started because I have psoriasis really bad inside my ears. I don't pick until they bleed, I have never had them bleed, but I do dig in them so bad that I have moved the cartilage and bones around. I have Narcolepsy so I find myself dozing off and when I come back around I am digging in my ears. I grab anything that is small enough to fit into my ears, bobby pins and scissor tweezers are my main things I use. From reading other stories I was amazed that some have started one thing and have gone to another. I have been a nail bitter ever since I was a toddler, but now that I look back my nail biting has stop ever since I have gone digging into my ears. I want to stop and I go to bed and say to myself that I won't dig in my ears. But that last about 10 minutes after I wake up. I am ashamed to go to the Doctors but I know I need help. Please tell me how to stop,.

About ten years ago, I was reading a book and tore off a small piece of the paper. I rolled it up into a ball and stuck it in my right ear. I have been sticking bobby pins, toothpicks, and tweezers into my ear to get it out since then. Sometimes I can feel it in my ear with the tools but can't ever get it

Wow...I thought I was the only one that suffered from this. I have been picking my ears for years now. I would use anything imaginable (e.g. pen tips, safety pins, etc.). However, I have been doing it much less now, and I believe that distracting myself or doing something that I like such as exercising, reading, being involved in the community, and etc. can help keep my mind off the desire to dig in my ears. Most of the time I do it to decrease the itching, but sometimes I do it because it feels good. I am a Christian, and I found that prayer and knowing that God has my back no matter what the circumstance, it lessens my anxiety. Just know that this can be conquered and treated. Not to get me wrong I still suffer from this from time to time, but it so much less because now I am realizing (I don't know why I didn't before) that this can damage m eardrum and affect my hearing. Here are some scriptures that help me. Isaiah 50:7 "For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed." Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." Know that you are not alone and that this can be conquered so you can live abundant, successful, and healthy lives.

I dig in my ears also and i have been doing it for over 5 years i am tring to stop now but dont know how. i dig until i feel this relief. Im tring to find a way to stop.Maybe its a deeper meaning a sort of self soothing of something. Im searching for the answer.

I've always had the habit of over cleaning my ears but since i moved i found myself doing it more. I have sores in my ears because of it and now i can't stop picking the scabs. I always feel water in them and it drives me crazy! They will either be itchy or feel like i have water in them. I do it all day now sometimes i will wake up in the middle of the night. I only stick my pinkies or a qtip.i found myself the other day using a pen cap. Ugh!!!

I have had this for over 25 years. I went to several doctors to no avail. I have the flakes and the itching and even scratch in the night. The last doctor I saw told me to use an anti-itch cream and Neospoin at the same time. I have been doing this for quite some time now and it really works. I use a qtip and put a little ribbon on one side of the qtip and then the Neosporin on the other side. Then gently insert just in the opening of the ear, do not go in far and twist the qtip around to get a coating in there. It stops the itch and stops the flaking. That is the only relief that I have had for a long time. Try this and see if it doesn't make your ears feel better.

i can not stop picking my ear. It really annoys me i want to stop picking but i physically cant until i am relieved. i pick it with my index finger and dig right in, i have to pick it until its sore and aches, ususally resulting in an infection and then once the infection is gone i have to pick it again to get rid of the flakes and black ear wax, its really disgusting and its a pure vicioius circle. i went to the doctors and explained it to him and i think he thought i was joking as all he said was 'oh i wouldnt do that if i was you' so now i feel no one will take me seriously. I really am getting sick of have constant earache, i mean constant to the point where i cant move my jaw its that saw, and the feeling of being deaf is annoying and makes me want to pick me to try and let me hear. The thing is i only pick my left ear aswll i really dont get it :(

I have been picking my ears since I was little. My ears were alway infected because my hands were dirty and I would push the wax in more. We should not be embarrassed of this! We are not alone and in fact after research. in other countries such as China and Thailand its common!!! Tourists pay a lot of money to get their ears picked.Until recently, I could not buy these tools in our country. I resorted to Bobby pins,,pen caps even an oral b sonic toothbrush with out the brush. I have found the correct tools online that countries have been using for centuries. If you go to ww.myearpick.com. You can find a whole lot of Information and the history of ear picking. Since I have been using the correct tools I no longer have infections as long as I clean them.

I've been picking at the inside of my ear since early this year. I'm just like you xxxtinaxx where i only pick at my left ear, although i've got a little sore on my right ear but that one gets mostly left alone. I've picked at my left ear untill i can barely hear in it and it's only been over the past two/three weeks i've done the most damage. I usually pick at sores on my head but that seams to have "calmed down" since the ear thing. GAHH I need help...

Iv'e been doing it for about ten years I use toothpicks, rolled up pieces of paper things like that. I see that in number of these storys, the family has some problems with anxiety and deppression, I was thinking that I started doing this because it feels good but maybe now I may have inherited these said problems and this earpicking is part of that. Hope eveyone is able to stop. thanks for sharing this.

I've had itchy ears all my life because I picka t them, scratch them with pen lids and so on, which makes them scab over which itches which makes me scratch at them and so on. But recently I've been putting rubbing alcohol (surgical spirit in the uk) on a cotton bud and 'cleaning' inside my ear with that. It stings like anything to start with, (you should probably be careful not to dig too deep) but it stops the itching and gets rid of the scabs really quickly and means I pick far less. Alas it's not helping with stopping picking/eating the skin around my fingertips, or my toenails, but it's nice not to be bleeding from my ears any more! Hope this helps some of you.

This is an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and the more you pick, the worse it gets because you cause small cuts inside your ear, which in turn causes more itching, infection and wax build up. It is a never ending problem that gets worse and worse. But there is a quick and easy cure, run don't walk to a doctor and get a prescription Mometasone Furoate Cream Usp. 0.1% brand name Perrigo. This will cure your problem within 1 or 2 days. It is truly a miracle. Just put a small amount inside your ear and a little bit around the outside and underneath the ear lobe. You may have to repeat every couple of weeks or when ever the itching or wax build up returns. This stuff changed my life, try it !

My mum has been picking and picking at her ears I was the one with the problem because she didn't seem to care. I have been getting annoyed ever since I was 7 and I am ten now but she has been ever so annoying. I always wanted her to stop because she always makes a disgusting sound like a watery noise. But now I found this site and I am going to try the cream out. So thanks.

I have been picking my ears with tweezers for 15 year, have tried to stop but can't. I used to be a drug addict when I started this, and started because my ears felt itchy all the time, hayfever, and allergies. And because it felt really soothing I am now deaf in my right ear and have tinnitus 24/7, the specialist doc/s said they dont know why I am deaf? But it is definitely because I picked too much, too deep, and caused bleeding. Its so dangerous to do this picking but i cant stop.

I unfortunately have this issue and have for many years. I am currently a teen, and this has been going on ever since I was really young. I pick my ears until I bleed causing cuts and scabs and even continue to do so afterwards... It's painful but really comforting and it feels really good and I want to stop. Then I just started using Q tips and now I want to use them more and more but I know it's a bad idea. I also have to do it the same amount of time in each ear in the same way and with the same finger, and at the end of each time I always pick at the small crook at the too of my ear and down. Sometimes I use my pointer finger and other time most times my pinky. This is a bit gross and uncomfortable but I only feel the relief when I get a piece of wax. There's a feeling when I get the deep red, soft wax in large amounts because it feels so good! My mom is getting really grossed out and I know it's a bit rediculous with all the details and rituals that go with this, and the dermatologist said to use some vasaline, which I did today but it only made me want to pick my ears more! Oh goodness. Any suggestions?