Ear discharge: What should I do?

Hello,

I’ve been dealing with this strange brown discharge coming from my right ear—it’s hard to say if it’s just standard wax or perhaps mixed with some blood, but it carries a really unpleasant odor. My left ear feels perfectly fine, and there isn't any pain involved whatsoever. It seems to accumulate most heavily overnight; while it doesn't exactly leak out constantly, I find myself needing to clear it away with a cotton swab or a towel every single morning, though some builds up during the day too. This has been going on for about two months now. Should I be concerned about this?

Thx

I don't know, I guess not really, because honestly, it’s just been my life since forever, like, in both ears every single day, mostly because I dealt with those constant ear infections when I was a little kid—though, I suppose, ever since I was about eight years old, things have actually been pretty fine...

Yeah, I went through those exact same bouts of inflammation when I was a kid, right up until about that age you mentioned. It just stopped after that. Maybe there's some underlying connection there...

Hey guys! 🙂

Every single time I catch even the tiniest little cold, my ear gets hit with this massive inflammation. Honestly, nothing works—not some home remedy from a health blog, not olive oil, nothing... just straight-up pills. 🙂

The actual swelling usually clears up in a day or two, but then I’m stuck dealing with this watery discharge. Some days it smells absolutely revolting, other days it doesn't... but still.

It’s gross. Every morning when I roll out of bed, I find this little yellow "puddle" on my pillow. Sometimes it's a tiny bit, sometimes it's more.

It feels terrible. Like, I'm walking around and I can literally feel the fluid sloshing around in my ear. It's been going on for like two weeks now...

I've tried using Q-tips, but that does zero for me. My hearing is muffled too, and trying to blow my nose is a nightmare because the pressure makes my ears ring so loud it's actually unbearable!

Has anyone else dealt with something like this? Any advice? Thanks in advance for any help! 😍

I dealt with similar issues when I was younger, though I never actually suffered from infections. For me, the culprit is always the pillow—specifically the filling. Feathers just irritate me too much, so I have to stick to synthetic fills.

I'm facing some minor struggles again now, but I suspect it’s the pillow acting up, specifically my contoured one from Tempur-Sealy. 🙂

And whatever you do, stay away from nasal sprays; they really just make things worse in the long run.

Have you had a chance to see an ENT yet?