Hmmmm...mine started (both sides, sometimes just the left, sometimes just the right) just this summer right after I'd moved into a new apartment and was undergoing a lot of stress. I live in Brooklyn, NY and work in Manhattan and Jersey, so I'm on the subway a lot - always fun to have this happen there. And I have very short hair, so aside from hiding under a ski cap, not much to be done. Anyway, I stumbled upon something the other day while doing a "red ears" search where someone mentioned that they'd contracted a case of contact dermetitis on their ears from a down pillow (improperly sterilized feathers?). Funny thing is - I'd bought 2 new down pillows just about the time this started. Well I chucked them yesterday in favor of 2 hypoallergenics, so we'll see if that has any effect. I'd been travelling in December and not sleeping on them and it did seem to be happening less frequently...I don't know. I'll try to report back in a month or so and let you all know if it helped.
Good luck to everyone here. I know what a royal pain this is...
I have been getting hot, red ears all my life and so has my brother. I get this mostly in the winter. I use an ice cube or anything cold to cool it off (even pressing my ear against a window when no ice was available). I liked to think that getting a hot, red ear was an evolutionary thing that evolved so that the wax in your ear would melt rather than gather and clog your ear. Unlikely, but it makes me feel better.
I CANNOT sleep with polyester pillow cases or types of pillows that make your ear hot, or it may set it off. I use a 100% down pillow with a 100% cotton cover.
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Hmmmm...mine started (both sides, sometimes just the left, sometimes just the right) just this summer right after I'd moved into a new apartment and was undergoing a lot of stress. I live in Brooklyn, NY and work in Manhattan and Jersey, so I'm on the subway a lot - always fun to have this happen there. And I have very short hair, so aside from hiding under a ski cap, not much to be done. Anyway, I stumbled upon something the other day while doing a "red ears" search where someone mentioned that they'd contracted a case of contact dermetitis on their ears from a down pillow (improperly sterilized feathers?). Funny thing is - I'd bought 2 new down pillows just about the time this started. Well I chucked them yesterday in favor of 2 hypoallergenics, so we'll see if that has any effect. I'd been travelling in December and not sleeping on them and it did seem to be happening less frequently...I don't know. I'll try to report back in a month or so and let you all know if it helped.
Good luck to everyone here. I know what a royal pain this is...
Parent comment
I have been getting hot, red ears all my life and so has my brother. I get this mostly in the winter. I use an ice cube or anything cold to cool it off (even pressing my ear against a window when no ice was available). I liked to think that getting a hot, red ear was an evolutionary thing that evolved so that the wax in your ear would melt rather than gather and clog your ear. Unlikely, but it makes me feel better. I CANNOT sleep with polyester pillow cases or types of pillows that make your ear hot, or it may set it off. I use a 100% down pillow with a 100% cotton cover.