Home Remedies for Ear Discharge

Have you ever heard about oil that is produced by your body? The job of that earwax is to ensure that dust, germs, and other foreign bodies won’t ever go through the ear. However, this condition probably causes blood and fluids to drain from the ear. It’s a noticeable sign that the ear has been infected. In this case, you will need some home remedies for ear discharge or call for medical attention.

What is Ear Discharge?

Before getting to know what types of home remedies for ear discharge suit your condition, let’s find out more about this drainage.

Ear discharge or known as otorrhea medically is the term used to describe the state of ears which have fluid come out of them. And this drainage can be bloody or thick like pus. And based on the cause of ear discharge, people suffer the ear pain, itching, and fever at the same time. The symptoms would go from severe to slowly grow.

However, it is seen as a common problem which can affect anybody from children to older adults^[1][2].

Earwax is the normal discharge from ear; however, drainage or fluid is unusual, and it is often the sign for some other ailments ^[3]. Or they’re sometimes trauma or infections due to that abnormal ear discharges. And soon after recognizing them, you will see how it’s a must-do to find out the right home remedies for ear discharge.

However, according to some experts, ear discharge is pretty standard in healthy individuals just because your ear will generate the earwax as a way to guard your inner portions of the ear against germs and infection.  

What causes Ear Discharge?

In every case, ear discharge is just the ear wax that can make its way out of the body, which is considered quite normal. Some other conditions that are said to cause discharge, such as injury or infection. Look below for a better understanding of the leading causes of the issue:

• Middle ear infection

It’s a widespread cause of discharge from your ear. And the infection occurs once the germs and viruses try to make their way into your middle ear. This organ lies right behind your eardrum. It has about three different bones known as ossicles. They’re quite crucial to your hearing.

The ear infections I’ve just mentioned in the middle ear are likely to trigger the fluid to develop behind your eardrum. When you see too much liquid, then there’s a high risk of perforation of your eardrum. Such a condition leads to your ear discharge.

• Trauma

Have you ever suffered injury to your ear canal? It occurs mostly while you’re cleaning the ear with some cotton swabs, or when you push them in too thick. There’s a significant increase in pressure, like when you’re supposed to fly in an airplane or go diving, also results in trauma to the ear. Such situations probably trigger your eardrum to tear.

Besides, acoustic trauma is said to be another damage to your ear because of the loud noises. Such an injury will cause the eardrum to tear. But such cases won’t be as common as others depict.

• Swimmer’s ear

The Otitis Externa, also known as the swimmer’s ear, which happens as the germs or fungus could influence the ear canal. This condition mainly takes place whenever you spend a long time swimming in water. There will be too much moisture inside the ear that quickly break down your skin on the walls of the ear canal. Such an issue enables the germs or fungus to get in or cause an infection.

But the swimmer’s ear won’t be exclusive to the swimmers at all. There’s a crack in your skin of the ear canal. It probably happens if you’ve got skin irritation as a result of eczema. It will also take place if you put an external object into your ear. Be aware that any break to the ear canal makes it more prone to the infection.

• Foreign body in your external ear

The foreign ear body is just anything that is stuck in the ear canal other than your earwax. This is comprised of buttons, toys, disk batteries, papers, cotton swabs, or even insects. These tend to get trapped in the external ear canal. If that happens, you’re advised to visit your care physician for the next 24 hours to get the foreign object removed.  

Note that this is not seriously a medical emergency case that needs an instant visit to the hospital. However, the entire procedure needs to get performed by a medical expert to dodge damage to your eardrum. It’s crucial to get rid of that stuck object in a proper manner, but to prevent further irritation and the possibility of an infection.

• Cholesteatoma

It’s known as a type of non-cancerous skin cyst that lies in the middle ear and your mastoid bone in the skull. This is also said as a big birth defect, but according to some reliable sources, this condition takes place as a complication of your chronic ear infection.

Therefore, don’t be hesitant to pay a visit to a physician to be given the more accurate diagnosis before taking home remedies for ear discharge. If the case is more dangerous, then you can consider the surgery to diminish that cyst.

• Branchial Cleft Anomaly

This is said to be a mass of abnormal tissues within your neck, and they’re likely to build up the fluid-filled pockets known as the cysts. Or they occasionally create passages that can drain to a particular opening in your skin.

• Damage to the eardrum
• Injury to the ear canal which can lead to eczema and irritations
• Middle ear gets infections
• Have swimmer’s ear

Most common symptoms of Ear discharge

It’s an ordinary afternoon when you have to catch up on some kinds of work. Suddenly, you feel that your ear starts to feel weird. Maybe you neglect it initially, but that feeling won’t go away soon. And you have to put the hand to one of the sides of the head and to feel it. There’s something wet going out of it!

What are you going to do next? It’s time to rush to the bathroom and take a closer look at it. This is exactly when you realize that your entire day has taken a strange turn. You’re now suffering the ear discharge.  

Symptoms:

• Pain in the ear
• Feeling heavy in the ear
• Experience discomforts
• Yellowish or white discharge
• Terrible smelling discharge
• Fever if you have the infection
• Feels numb or tingling

Ear discharge is said as a type of fluid that comes from your ear, and this is known as the otorrhea. This earwax is just a normal discharge made up of the oil in your ear. Also, this kind of earwax makes sure that all debris and bacteria not to get into the ear canal.

However, even blood or some types of fluids can make way to enter your ear, like going through the ruptured eardrum.

Thus, this is why the ear discharge signs should never get ignored. And these can be a sign of a treatable infection or a sign of serious trauma.

And I must say that it’s not a great look on you at all, so you must go back home and try to find some ways to get rid of that unpleasant thing. They should be some home remedies for ear discharge you should give a try!

15 effective home remedies for ear discharge

Here are the top 15 most effective home remedies for ear discharge which you can apply easily at home in order to help get rid of this problems sooner. However, in case you have experienced the problem for a while and especially when the discharge contains weird smell, you need to consult a doctor immediately to prevent any possible damage for your ear drum and middle ear…

1. Gravity

Are you ready for the first out of my top home remedies for ear discharge yet? The most critical thing in curing ear discharge is clearing all the fluid inside the ear, and you can have gravity do that for you.

How to do:

• Keep your ear parallel to the ground. Take 1 finger into your ear to make the vacuum effect in order to suck the fluid out. Cleanse with cotton stick or cloth.
• Another option is lying down with your ear on a towel.

2. Warm Compress

You might not know that using a warm compress is such a useful method among many home remedies for ear discharge. How come? The heat can increase the fluid’s flow efficiently as well as soothe any pain occurred.

How to use:

• Soak a piece of cloth into hot water and squeeze. Put the cloth onto your ear for around 5 minutes while keeping your ear parallel to the ground in order to encourage fluid coming out. Rest for a while and repeat the procedure.
• Another option is lying down with your ear on a heat pad wrapped in cloth for couples of minutes.

For more application of warm compress as a home remedy, please read: Home Remedies for Sore Nipples and Eyelid Cysts.

3. Steam Inhalation

Hot steam has the effect of opening the Eustachian tube which will promote the removal of fluid inside the ear.

How to use:

• Take a large bowl of hot boiling water with some drops of eucalyptus or any other essential oils.
• Cover your head with a towel and breathe in the steam for around 10 minutes.
• After that, tilt the head and keep the affected ear parallel to the ground in order to encourage fluid coming out.
• Repeat for another round if needed.

Steam Inhalation is a popular home remedy which can treat various problems. You can find out at: Home Remedies for Loss of Smell and Taste and Phlegm.

4. White Vinegar and Alcohol

The antibacterial property of vinegar and the drying effect of alcohol can make a perfect combination for fluid removal inside the ear ^[4]. Besides, as compared to some home remedies for ear discharge, vinegar is the most effective solution to help you remove the fungus from your ear.

How to use:

• Fill the dropper with equal amount of vinegar and alcohol.
• Put few drops into the affected ear.
• After 10 minutes, keep the affected ear parallel to the ground to allow fluid to come out
• Perform twice per day to prevent infections.

5. Garlic

What’s the best among these home remedies of ear discharge? Let’s try garlic! It’s very good at relieving your pain and killing microbes quite well. The antibiotic property of garlic can effectively treat middle ear infections which is one of the causes for ear discharge ^[5][6].

• Take 2 to 3 cloves of garlic and extract the juice.
• Use the dropper to put some drops of garlic juice into the ear.
• After 5 minutes, dry your ear using hair dryer.
• Perform twice per day for couples of day.

Plus, garlic has been long used as an trusted ingredient in many remedies, including Home Remedies for Oral Thrush.

6. Neem Oil

Out of my recommended home remedies for ear discharge, neem oil can kill bacteria that triggers your ear infection. Let’s use the juice from their leaves or fuel for your ear. Also, it’s known as Indian lilac or sometimes margosa, is excellent in reducing inflammation and pain as well as preventing infections ^[7][8].

How to use:

• Use the dropper to put few drops into your ear.
• After 15 minutes, let the fluid come out by keep your affected ear face parallel to the ground.
• Perform 2 to 3 times per day.

7. Basil

There’s one thing you’re unaware of basil: It’s used to cure minor earaches.The antibiotic property in basil can help prevent infections from discharge as well as soothe pain if any ^[9].

So apart from the above home remedies for ear discharge, you can rely on basil for more comfortable treatment.

How to use:

• Squeeze some basil leaves to extract the juice.
• Warm up the juice and use the dropper to put few drops into the ear.
• Perform twice per day.

8. Onion

Unlike other home remedies for ear discharge, the warmth of onion will help offer enough comfort and circulation assistance. In case, the release from your ear is pus, the onion will be a perfect choice as it can effectively control the infections in the middle ear.

How to use:

• Take 1 onion and extract the juice.
• Warm it up and use the dropper to put few drops into your ear.
• After 5 minutes, remove the juice by keep your ear facing the ground parallel for the juice to come out.
• Perform 2 to 3 times per day.

9. Breast Milk

Pretty similar to some home remedies for ear discharge above, the use of breastmilk is mostly to treat your ear infections.  

Inflammation, pus and middle ear infections can be controlled effectively using breast milk due to its antibiotic property. However, breast milk is hard to obtain as there is always a pregnant lady around ^[10].

How to use:

• Take the dropper to put some drops of breast milk into your ear.
• Perform couples of time per day.

10. Tea Tree Oil

This is another good-to-use ingredient out of other home remedies for ear discharge I mentioned here. The antiseptic and antibiotic properties of tea tree oil can effectively treat the symptoms of ear discharge and prevent ear infections. They can kill the bacteria and virus that cause the disease in your ear.

How to use:

• Mix some oil with water or other essential oils based on your choice and directly apply on the affected area of your ear.

Besides ear discharge, tea tree oil is always on the top of the ingredients’ list used to deal with men’s health problems. You can find out more information at Home Remedies for Jock Itch.

11. Mustard Oil

Against ear infections, mustard oil is one of the most effective home remedies for ear discharge and soothing pain as well as preventing infections.

How to use:

• Use the dropper to put few drops of oil into your ear.
• After few minutes, put your ear facing the ground parallel in order for the oil to come out.
• Repeat few times to maximize the impact.

12. Corn Flour

Can you use corn flour as one of the best home remedies for ear discharge? Yes, why not? Acting as a drying agent, corn flour is excellent for the type of release which located near the outer parts of the ear. Furthermore, corn flour is exceptionally effective against the case to involve pus. Directly apply corn flour using your clean and sterilized hand or cotton bud.

13. Clove Oil

It’s nothing else than the oil from cloves that can be used as one of the top recommended home remedies for ear discharge. With a similar application as neem oil which is reducing pain and control infections, you can take the dropper to put few drops of clove oil into your ear for couples of minutes before letting them out. 

If not, add two teaspoons of sesame oil to a few drops of clove oil. Warm it up and then see whether it overheats or not. Next, apply the entire mixture to your ear carefully.

14. Mango Leaf Juice

Like some quick and worth-to-try home remedies for ear discharge, mango leaf juice can give full relief to your ear. Another type of leaf-extracted fluid which is useful for treating ear infections is mango leaf juice.

How to use:

• Take few clean mango leaves and extract them for the juice.
• Warm up the juice and use the dropper to put few drops of the juice into your ear.
• Keep them there for few minutes before getting them out.
• Perform the procedure for about 3 times per day until the infections is finished.

15. Avoid Phlegm-Producing Foods

As mucus or phlegm will obstruct the treatment of ear discharge, you need to completely avoid them in order to have a quick healing process.

• Keep out of dairy products such as milk, cheese or yogurt…
• Keep out of animal products such as meat and eggs…
• Keep out of gluten such as wheat, barley and rye…
• Keep out of caffeine and alcohol products.
• Keep out of sugar-rich products.
• Keep out of phlegm-producing fruits such as potato, corn, cabbage and banana…
• Increase consuming foods which can help you reduce and prevent phlegm such as garlic, onion, broccoli, bell pepper and leafy greens…

When to meet your doctor for an ear infection?

A few symptoms of the inner ear infection or discharge are quite similar to those of a stroke. If you have vomiting, fever, headache, or weakness in one of the body sides, even find it hard to walk, then hurry to call for medical attention immediately.

At times, the ear infections can recover on their own for just a few days. However, when the pain doesn’t get any better, stop using the above home remedies for ear discharge because you must see a doctor as soon as possible. Note that any infection that involves your high fever or ear discharge, bleeding from the ear canal, pain, dizziness, hearing impairment needs to be observed by a medical professional.

Prevention

Before using those home remedies for ear discharge, learn how to reduce the risks of the infections. Bear in mind that the ear infection in the kids can be easily prevented by keeping their rooms warm and dry.

Besides, let’s make sure their living space to be free of smoke as long as possible. And take precautions to dodge catching a flu since this also diminish the risk of growing the middle ear infection. Last but not least, wash both hands carefully, and never share eating or drinking utensils at all.

Conclusion

Do you have ear infections? Go ahead and try some natural! Take instant action to get relief from the severe pain and gain enough sleep you need. Choose your favorite among the above home remedies for ear discharge that appear to help you resolve the problem before it gets worse.

But remember that these methods only support your body in dealing with the issue. So once you see the condition can’t get better, or encounter any symptom above (a headache, fever, vomiting, bleeding, etc.), go to ask for some medical help!

To help us reach out millions of outside readers, do not forget to LIKE and SHARE if you find this article helpful!