Wolves Zoos Coffee pots come out sparkling clean when washed with a mixture of 1 tablespoon of salt, a little water and a sprinkle of baking soda. Otitis externa is an infection, usually fungal, in the external ear canal that connects the eardrum with the outside of your body. The space we typically get water caught in after diving or bathing and the place where we shouldn't put anything smaller than our elbows into, but often do put cotton swabs anyway. Usually this can easily be treated with ear drops of various sorts including a home remedy of peroxide, vinegar and water dribbled into the canal nightly, or by a prescription solution that fights fungus and decreases inflamation and pain. See your doctor if keeping your ear dry and using the concoction above doesn't do the trick.
Some swimmers use an ear plug that prevents the dirty water from settling inside.
Anyway, the good news is that it does not impair your hearing function and usually gets better on its own with time and avoidance of the original cause. Oh, yes, you can also give yourself this infection by sticking pencil points or other nasty things into your ear to scratch that itch so stay out of it, for your own good. It is caused by fungus and often occurs after swimming in unclean water or by scratching the inner canal with objects such as Q tips and introducing fungus inadvertently. Usual course Most cases resolve without treatment but discomfort can lead to attempts at relief that can make the condition worse. If not resolved some cases can go on to an oozing exudative and even bloody state that will require antibiotic treatment to cure.