Ears burning, anyone?

[willa]

Today I'm having a strange reaction that I'm wondering how to classify. All afternoon my left ear, esp. the top, has had a burning sensation, and it's bright red. My left cheek, which is normally rosy red with a couple of P&Ps, also burns a bit, but nowhere near as hot and painful as my ear. My husband just got home from work and checked the ear for any broken skin (I was thinking an insect bite of some sort) but didn't find any.

I'm wondering if it's a weird flare from a lunch of total junk food (McDonald's burgers & fries with a couple of Snickers bars - I know, I know . . .). I haven't eaten these things in quite a while, and maybe something in it is a trigger.

I was diagnosed with rosacea just over 3 weeks ago, so I'm still trying to determine all my triggers. This is just weird 'cuz of the ear involvement. I took some Benadryl to cover my bases.

Has anyone had this reaction with their ears? TIA

[willa]

OK, what gives? 3.5 hours ago I took Benadryl. Now the left ear is improved (color normal, moderate burning), but the right ear (same areas - top and outside edges) is beet red and burning/itching. This is post-Benadryl! I had a healthy, normal dinner with known trigger-free elements (big salad with scant Parmesan cheese and about 3 ozs. of tuna, followed by fresh cantalope and a peppermint candy).

Has anyone had this happen to them? **whine whine whine**

[iVAN]

Argghhh. burning red ears are my daily nemesis. I'll be watching this thead closely for any hopeful hints.
Click here if you wanna see mine :evil:
http://forum.rosaceagroup.org/viewtopic.php?t=7281

[willa]

Hi, iVan, and thanks for replying. Man, if you have this reaction every day, I don't know how you keep sane. My ears aren't as all-over red as yours - just all along the outside rim and the back. All evening they've been flaring and subsiding. I just took more Benadryl - this time a quick-dissolve strip - and already the burning is down a bit. Hopefully this is an allergic reaction, but I don't know what they're reacting to. (BTW, Benadryl strips in vanilla mint taste AWFUL.)

You know, for months I had rosacea symptoms and put off going to the derm. to get an official diagnosis. Now that I've done that, it's like the floodgates are open! :shock:

Next week at the derm. I'll mention this and hope for some insight. Now I'm going to bed before the Benadryl wears off. Nighty-night.

[iVAN]

I am still sane.......barely, but still hangin in there.
Here is a link to a site with a long long thread about people
with red ears. Haybe something you might find useful in there.

http://www.peterbe.com/One-hot-ear

[moka]

when my ears burn, i find that cooling them with lots of cold water and cold air helps.
I just keep my ears wet and sit next to a fan, a window, the a/c or anything that has cold wind blowing from it, and usually after about 10-15 minutes the burning and redness go away (might take longer for the cheek).
i don't know what could be done to prevent this, though...
if you find anything that helps, please let us know! :)

[phlika29]

My ears are the worst bit at times. There is no rhyme or reason sometimes one cheek flushes, sometimes both do, sometimes one ear gets red and at times everything does.

I also favour the getting them wet and fanning my ears.

I would say it could be the junk food. Nowadys if I want a treat I go to the health food shop and buy some dried fruit, etc. I gave up on the real bad stuff as the payback is just too large. :cry:

[GJ]

Ears are especially sensitive, I guess. Pale faced folk are prone to red ears from time to time.

My ears can be burning red and my cheeks flushless, but the reverse seldom happens.

Ears are easily overlooked when applying sun creams; over the years damage may accrue..

[princess_illusion]

Even with the oil I'm taking my ears burn everyday - there 99% of the time a deep red, it's uncomfortable, irritating, it gives me a headache where it feels like my head could explode!! Not to mention really embarrassing! The joke ‘Ooh someone must be talking about you’ never gets old where I work!

I wish I had a magic cure..!!

[willa]

Wow, I had no idea the ears are involved in rosacea. I've had rosacea symptoms for months and months, but never had these ear issues 'til the other day. I really thought/wished it was an allergic reaction (to what I don't know), but since then each day I've had the burning on the rims/back of both ears in varying intensities throughout the day. I'm incredibly prone to ear infections, though, so I've got to steer clear of cool breezes and compresses - the resulting moisture gives rise to lovely bacteria.

Maybe it is some sort of sugar reaction - I did eat a lot of sugar the day this started, but that's nothing new; I usually eat tons of sugars and starches. Maybe I've reached a saturation point!

This is something I'll definitely bring up with the derm. at my appt. next week, but I'm not holding my breath for answers. It's only my second appt. with this doc, and I'm not sure how in tune she is with all of rosacea's complexities.

[redhotoz]

Hi Willa

It could be an ingredient in the food you have eaten, sugar, alcohol, stress, heat or cold that could be the cause. I'm sure there is more that could be added to that list. Sometimes, it just happens for no apparent reason! Yup and my ears are burning as I type! Grrr! Sometimes it's one ear for me, sometimes it's both.

I worry about cold/ice water and fans to the face or ears as I believe it can have a rebound effect and things can get worse over time.

Don't have a solution, sorry. I just wait it out.

Jen

[Froggirl]

Like iVan posted this isn't just a problem for rosaceans that weblink he posted is full of hundreds of people who just have this issue with their ears, it's really amazing.

When my flushing was at it's worse my ears were bad too, now it's mainly heat or pressure that makes them flush, like talking on the telephone on lying on my side, so simple things like using speaker phone and sleeping on my back have helped a lot. I found too that apply a cool cloth to them would help too.

OK, what gives? 3.5 hours ago I took Benadryl. Now the left ear is improved (color normal, moderate burning), but the right ear (same areas - top and outside edges) is beet red and burning/itching. This is post-Benadryl!

Antihistamines have a very limited effect once the reaction has started.They block histamine receptors but in your case if it was an allergy your histamine receptors would have been well and truly filled with histamine by the time you took the Benadryl. So antihistamines are of most use as a preventative, so if you do suspect an allergy you'll need to take benadryl for a couple of weeks at least and then see if that does make an impact on your symptoms.

[bentherebefore]

Ears are, arguably, the worst part about my rosacea. They are a relatively new symptom, they started about 11 months ago. When my ears flush, it is VERY irritating, even painful, much more so then my face.

The only thing in the past year I have found to help is... like the others said... water and a breeze. I get my hair spray bottle and spray myself in front of a fan. And yeah, it usually takes a good 15 minutes before they are back to normal, but at least it works.

I am buying a digital camera now, so I can soon post some pics of my ear flushes. You might be amazed... on warm summer days my ears can burn and turn almost purple. I also want to take the pics to my derm.

[willa]

OK, this is getting waaaaay too bizarre. I'm just learning to tolerate the redness/burning of my ears' top and outer rim when along comes a whole new ear trauma: phone burn!!

Tonight I spent about 45 minutes on the phone with my sister. Normally, with such a long call, my phone ear would get warm and moist from contact with the receiver. Well, about a half-hour after I hung up, I noticed the ol' burning was back. I checked the mirror and saw that the entire lower half of my phone ear, including the lobe, was red and angry and slightly swollen! There was also a very prominent papule on the bit of cartilege just above the lobe.

It's 3 hours later, and the condition persists in all its glory. Unfortunately, it didn't photograph well so I can't show my derm. the reaction. (Although maybe it'll look the same at my appt. this week.)

On some intellectual level, this is all fascinating. But with each new symptom, I feel like my world is getter smaller and more cramped. It's like I'm trapped in a shrinking box (sans mime); every time I turn, I hit a wall, develop new symptoms, and try to tolerate the smaller world before it shrinks again. **sigh**

[Froggirl]

On some intellectual level, this is all fascinating. But with each new symptom, I feel like my world is getter smaller and more cramped. It's like I'm trapped in a shrinking box (sans mime); every time I turn, I hit a wall, develop new symptoms, and try to tolerate the smaller world before it shrinks again. **sigh**

That sums things up so perfectly, i feel like that a lot too. Hopefully the derm has some answers or suggestions to stop the shrinking. :wink:

[moka]

hi willa,

I also share the feeling you have described so well.
every time i encounter a new problem and eventually i get used to it and learn to somehow tolerate it, and every time, my skin surprises me with a whole new problem.
talking on the phone is an issue for me as well. my ears and the part of the cheek close to it also get warm and irritated from speaking on the phone for a long time.
when i use my cell phone, i always use the speaker or an earphone, and with the regular phone i sometimes stand next to a fan or a window while i talk and it helps sometimes.
I also switch from ear to ear so the each ear gets a chance to air and cool.
but generally, i avoid long conversations on the phone. (good for my phone bill, too. :lol: )
I hope you will find a solution to your problem.

Yael.

[willa]

Thanks, Moka - I'm sorry this problem bothers you, too. I admire you looking on the bright fiscal advantage to it!

WARNING: RANT AHEAD!

Well, if I thought my dermatologist could shed any light on this, I was dead wrong. I had my one-month followup appt. today, and left on the edge of tears. She spent about 7 minutes with me. She said my ears looked fine, and she doubted the red/burning reactions were part of rosacea. She said it was probably something else, and I should ask my family doctor. (I had an appt. with HIM yesterday, and he said to ask her! Go figure.)

I told her when I flare, which I have extensively over the past few days, I run a low-grade fever. Again, that's not part of rosacea and I should check with my GP. I told her I was concerned I might have a yeast imbalance (coated tongue after prolonged antibiotic use, flaring after eating processed sugars). She said she didn't think there was such a thing as yeast imbalance, and that refined sugars weren't a rosacea trigger.

I asked her if rosacea was an inflammatory disorder and, if so, were there any foods/vitamins/supplements with anti-inflammatory properties. She said she "didn't want to go into anti-inflammatories."

She kept saying I shouldn't expect to be perfect. I kept saying that I wasn't looking for perfect; I was just hoping for some predictability so I could standardize a treatment. I told her I had kept detailed notes of my foods, meds and reactions. She looked at the paper in my hand, sighed, and said it was my job to identify the triggers and avoid them.

I said it seemed like the rosacea on my skin was an end-result - a symptom of something going wrong in my system. How do I figure out what's going wrong and what will fix it? She said there was no clear consensus on this issue.

At this point she is literally pacing around the room. She turned to her assistant and said, "I've got to keep moving or I'll get behind." I said, "Please don't say that. It's been a month and I've got questions." She said I'd better ask them in a hurry, or call them in. At this point I was so frustrated I had to fight not to start crying. (I know, I know, a very girly response.)

She asked about my satisfaction with the Metrogel (currently the only thing I'm on). I said it wasn't bad, but I wouldn't know for sure until I went through PMS week, my worst trigger. She said it looked like I didn't have a lot of P&Ps (I didn't) but my cheeks were very red (they were - I was seething at her brusqueness).

So she gave me a prescrip. for Finacea and said to use both - one in the a.m., one in the p.m. I'm a little reluctant to try the Finacea, since so many people have reported how it irritates their skin.

I asked if I could call her "with any seemingly irrational questions," and she smirked and told me to return in a month.

Now I've got a fever, hot/red cheeks, hot/red ears, and a major anxiety attack. Does anybody know what kind of doctor would treat possible inflammation disorders? An allergist? A hematologist?

I need to go find my happy place.

[Melissa W]

Hi Willa,

I am furious for you. Your dermatologist is a real (excuse the language) idiot. Of course your red burning ears are a part of your rosacea. Unbelievable. Everyone knows they are related.

Of course there is such a thing as a yeast imbalance. Does this derm even have her medical degree? :roll:

What a nerve to say she had to get going or would run behind. I am speechless but unfortunately not too shocked. There are so many insensitive doctors out there. :shock:

I would highly recommend finding another derm. This one couldn't even bother answering your concerns and she is also stupid.

I know it's hard to start all over but you deserve a doctor who cares and who will at least TRY to help you. I feel for you Willa but continue the fight because it's worth it. Just continue the fight with a doctor who is worthy of you. Good luck!

All the best,
Melissa

[DukeCity]

I'd go to someone who specifically treats rosacea and is highly recommended. - Even if you have to travel a bit, I went to many Derms like yours, before I learned my lesson.

[nwc]

willa

i'm mad too.

my latest derm... he was jumping off his seat to leave and i had to ask q's with his hand on the door knob and door open.... he's a real freaking arsehole.... he made 70 bucks in 3 mins off me!

i should of yelled and called him back in.

but i left a message and let him have it some... because he sucks and messed up last visit too...giving me something that's no use... plus other stuff. needless to say...all in all am reporting him to the medical bbb.... because there's a huge list and they won't negociate nor admit things.... caught them in lies and illegal stuff as well.

also left on the message to call me if he wants to learn about rosacea. no calls yet...

go see another doctor!!!!!! find someone who cares...

[Froggirl]

That really sucks. Hang in there in can take time to find someone good, but once you do it will be worth all the trouble in finding them.

Unfortunetly I think we've all proabably been through something similar at one stage or another. For me it was the first doctor i saw about lasers. I was running late for the appointment so had run up 5 flights of stairs and had started flushing terribly. First she said she wouldn't treat my face unless i first had autoimmune diseases ruled out because she didn't think that rosacea cause flushing, then she told me that she didn't know what i worried about that my face wasn't that bad, i tried to explain that despite what it looked like it was very painful but she didn't get it at all, so then i started to get upset and tried to explain how much it was effecting my life and she said i was overreacting and asked if i'd seen a pychatrist. :cry:

So i then decided it to wait and see the best laser derm in our area and it was so worth it, he spent over 40 minutes with me, going through every possible thing that could help flushing, from diet, to medications and skincare. And he let me ask as many questions as i wanted to and explained everything in detail. So i would suggest seeing if you can find a really good derm, as it really makes such a difference

Well, if I thought my dermatologist could shed any light on this, I was dead wrong. I had my one-month followup appt. today, and left on the edge of tears. She spent about 7 minutes with me. She said my ears looked fine, and she doubted the red/burning reactions were part of rosacea. She said it was probably something else, and I should ask my family doctor. (I had an appt. with HIM yesterday, and he said to ask her! Go figure.)

I told her when I flare, which I have extensively over the past few days, I run a low-grade fever. Again, that's not part of rosacea and I should check with my GP. I told her I was concerned I might have a yeast imbalance (coated tongue after prolonged antibiotic use, flaring after eating processed sugars). She said she didn't think there was such a thing as yeast imbalance, and that refined sugars weren't a rosacea trigger.

Though even with a good doctor they won't always have all the answers. My GP has never seen anything like the ear swelling i've got at times too, he nearly fell off his chair when i showed him the pictures. It's not a widely accepted symptom of rosacea, though it makes sense as just part of the flushing picture, but as menotined above it happens to many many people without rosacea.

And fever isn't a sign of rosacea, although i find when i have a fever it always makes me flush like crazy. But if it's the other way around for you then you really should get checked out, has your doctor already checked you out for all the other causes of flushing or facial redness?

[iVAN]

I'm sorry about how your Dr treated you.
I think most of us with rosacea have been through plenty of doctor BS.

At first for me it was:

1) book doctors appt
2) have some hope this doc may help
3) doctor is of NO help whatsover, and does not really care to listen.
4) despair and anger.
5) time passes
6) repeat step one.

Now I do all my own research into my condition and when I do
book a doctors appointment I always expect the worst.
Then, when nothing good whatsoever comes from it, while a bit dissapointed, at least its what I expected would happen anyway.

As far as phone calls, I have not been able to hold a phone against
my ear for 15yrs. I hold it in my hand like normal, but have my fingers
straight so the fingertips rest on my temples, holding the phone a bit
off my ear. Works for me.

[bentherebefore]

willa,

I really feel for ya... I hope it helps somewhat to know that, despite what some conceptions are, they really are a BUNCH of rosaceans with ear symptoms. And there are a bunch of people here who are going through the same hell and can sympathize with you every step of the way.

Today got up to about 86 F today and that's when it starts becoming really bad for my ears.

And, yeah, phones are hard. I use an earpiece, with my cell phone or home phone, which helps a lot.