i have a hole in my ear? (not ear canal)

[runner07]

okay so ever since i was born i've had this big bump with a hole in it, above my right ear. its located where the top curve meets the side of my head and its about as big as an ear piercing... maybe just a tad bigger. my left ear doesnt have the hole or the bump, it smoothly transitions from the top curve of my ear to the side of my head. sometimes this area would itch and many times this cloudy white/yellow/funny smelling liquid is excreted from the hole. and sometimes a little harder, darker yellow/brownish color looking (it kind of looks like ear wax) stuff would come out of this hole. if anyone could please tell me what exactly this is, and if it could get infected, how would i know? thank you :)

[KaityPaige]

I have one above each ear. It's not like a hole we purposely made. Most were born with it. So your belly button might just be infected from the ring?

[JCurry87]

I am so glad that I have found you all.  I don't know if what I have is the same thing, but I have a hole inside my ear, not too far from the opening.  That whole is, I'm guessing a tunnel to a hole in my neck.  The hole in my next looks like a dimple, but the hole inside my ear is without a doubt a hole.  Every since I can remember it has itched and I will mess with it and it will "drain".  It doesn't drain a whole bunch, it is a whitish color, and a little thicker than puss.  When I was baby through my toddler years I would get ear infections quite often.  When I really noticed it myself was when I was about 8-12 and that is when I learned how to itch it and "drain" it.  The small was horrible, I was so embarrassed.  I too would joke around with my friends and put an earring in my neck to try to make it funny instead of embarrassing.  Now I am 25, the hole still itches and drains, but it does not stink like it used to.  It still has a smell, but not the same overwhelming smell like before, this one is more of a greasy hair smell, if that make sense.  I'm so blessed to have not experienced the same trouble that some of you have had to deal with.  I don't know if because mine has an outlet that it doesn't swell all up and cause problems for be.  Don't get me wrong it is bothersome, but nothing to what some have had to deal with.  I did go to an ENT when I was 20 and they sort of explain it to me as to it didn't fully develop from being in the womb, and that I could have surgery, but there was 50/50 chance of me loosing all nerve endings in the left side of my face, which was just a chance that I did not want to take.  I have noticed that mine itches not so much, especially since we have been in winter months.  When I do a lot of swimming and things of that nature it bothers it a lot more.  The other day my husband found the hole in my ear and told me about where it was located so I could get a good vision to where it was, I think that mine drains more, because the hole is right inside my ear and water gets in there.  After a shower or swimming it become irritated and I have to drain it, then the secretion is water, which make sense now.  I hope this helps, and if someone has a tunnel like mine, it would be nice to see what you go through..  Thanks for letting me know that I am not alone in this matter, I have been looking at everyone's ears since I stated reading this forum to see if I can find others with the same thing.  God Bless :)  

[angie_gree]

I was born with these...they were at the top of my ear where the ear and my face meet......my Dad had them and his grandmother. All of us had to have surgery to remove what my doctor called "grapevine cysts". After itching for a few days it would swell up to the size of a golf ball and would need to be lanced. After my surgery I have had little to no issues with sweeling, itching or the god awful smell.

[Bee165]

I'm so glad that I'm not the only one with this problem!! Mine is like a volcano, it erupts sometimes. I CANNOT STRESS IT ENOUGH how much I hate the stinky smelly liquid that's soooo embarrassing when it suddenly comes out. I would LOVE to know if there is some kind of surgery to take that whole piece of tunnel like thing in there to keep it from collecting stinky fluid.. damn this defect!!!

[lambotastic]

I had the exact same horrible indescribable smell in the same place in my nose.  Really weird and gross.  What you have in your nose is most likely a staph infection. I'm suggesting this because I had one a few months ago with the same awful smell. It turns out that my sinuses were impacted so I assumed it was just a really bad sinus infection and was prescribed antibiotics.  It didn't go away so my Dr thought it could be staph and he swabbed for it. Results came back that I have it and according to my doctor it is fairly common about 20% of the population have staph bacteria living on the surface of the lining of the sinuses. The bacteria can be killed in the body by anti-biotic medicine but the ointment is necessary because the bacteria replicates so quickly. He prescribed both a pill for a sinus infection and an ointment anti-biotic to apply with a q-tip and it went away and hasn't returned. I still use the ointment because that smell was so bad it made me paranoid that it will come back the moment I stop. I'm sure that's not true but I'm not testing it.

Go see your doctor and they'll do a swab to test for it.  You'll know in a few days and be on your way to getting rid of that nasty smell.  Good luck

[lambotastic]

I had the exact same horrible indescribable smell in the same place in my nose.  Really weird and gross.  What you have in your nose is most likely a staph infection. I'm suggesting this because I had one a few months ago with the same awful smell. It turns out that my sinuses were impacted so I assumed it was just a really bad sinus infection and was prescribed antibiotics.  It didn't go away so my Dr thought it could be staph and he swabbed for it. Results came back that I have it and according to my doctor it is fairly common about 20% of the population have staph bacteria living on the surface of the lining of the sinuses. The bacteria can be killed in the body by anti-biotic medicine but the ointment is necessary because the bacteria replicates so quickly. He prescribed both a pill for a sinus infection and an ointment anti-biotic to apply with a q-tip and it went away and hasn't returned. I still use the ointment because that smell was so bad it made me paranoid that it will come back the moment I stop. I'm sure that's not true but I'm not testing it.

Go see your doctor and they'll do a swab to test for it.  You'll know in a few days and be on your way to getting rid of that nasty smell.  Good luck