Is this your child's symptom?
- A child who pulls, tugs, pokes, rubs or itches the ear
- Most ear pulling or touching is normal behavior (age 4-12 months)
- No crying or report of ear pain
Causes of Ear Pulling
- Habit. Main cause in infants. Normal touching and pulling with discovery of ears. This is usually not seen before 4 months of age. Usually not seen after 12 months old. By then, they have more interesting things to do.
- Earwax. The main cause in older children is a piece of earwax. This earwax buildup is usually caused by putting cotton swabs in the ear canal. Until the teen years, cotton swabs are wider than the ear canal. Therefore, they just push the earwax back in.
- Soap. Another cause of an itchy ear canal is soap or other irritants. Soap or shampoo can get trapped in the ear canal after showers.
- Ear Infection. Children with ear infections act sick. They present with an earache or unexplained crying.
- Rubbing the ear is common in younger children (under age 2 or 3). Simple ear pulling without other symptoms such as fever or crying is harmless. These children rarely have an ear infection.
When to Call for Ear - Pulling At or Rubbing
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