Keep your hand off that ear!

A 27 year old man presented with left ear pain and had begun to feel feverish. He revealed that a few days back, water had got into his ear canals and he used cotton buds to dry them up. About 24 hours later he started to feel pain. He medicated himself by using some kind of solution purchased over the counter (OTC), however the condition deteriorated and fever had set in.

Examination of his left ear showed some serous discharge and a small ulcerated area at 10 o'clock and fortunately his tympanic membrane (ear drum) was intact.The lesson drawn from this case is refrain from inserting cotton buds into you ear canal. Ear has the amazing mechanism of cleaning itself. Any attempt to clean it will risk injury and infection.