BillyBob2007

Connor. Have you figured out anything about the itch? I've had a lot of itchiness in my ears too. I'm not sure what the cause it but lately I've also had a significant amount of scaling outside the ear canal. At times I've used baby oil or mineral oil just to lubricate and give some relief to the itchiness. Having dealt with the dog grooming business I've wondered if maybe it was due to something along the lines of ear mites or bed bugs. I don't discount anything as being possible.
I've had tinnitus for several years which I am not sure what caused it. I was an avid scuba diver some 30+ years ago. There was an incident when I was running a chain saw and the muffler fell off but I kept running it to cut the trees I was working on. The combination of all these things along with several other job related incidents make me believe the loud noises contributed to my condition. No doubt that most tinnitus is caused by things happening that are mechanical in nature. The hairs inside the cochlea are somewhat brittle and can break off. It is my understanding that they do not repair themselves and do not regenerate. If pressure or swelling in the ear is related to tinnitus then it may subside but if there is cochlear damage then not likely there will be a cure. I do know that my tinnitus seems to be more pronounced after smoking or drinking coffee. From time to time I can tell a definite and sometimes distinctive change in pitch and volume of the bothersome noise. As for my hearing people speaking it is really weird at times that one person speaking at a lesser volume can be understood clearly while someone else who may be louder seems to have parts of words muffled to the point that I have trouble deciphering what they are saying though I can hear them perfectly well. For this reason I usually turn up the volume on the television to get the complete words that are being spoken by some people.