I've discussed this issue here before...my problem with inflamed and itching ears!!
My problem started back in 1997 and I've mainly used ear drops - chemical & Emu Oil etc to control the situation but nothing helped long term. It came & it went...and returned again!!
I've always tried to avoid eating wheat and lately even spelt because it doesn't agree with my system but I never made the connection between the wheat & my ears.
On the 10th September....I officially went 'wheat free'....not even a speck of the stuff!!
And you know what? My ears are completely free of any irritation or inflammation!!!

I'm just posting this hoping it may help another member.

  I'm so glad you have that figured out! 12 years of itchy ears is a long time!! You'll feel so much better now, eh?   HUGS  

Oh my gosh! Janet! I have that same problem! I "think" I don't eat wheat.....but...I bet I do more than I realize. Like at friends' house for dinner I had a flatbread...etc.
Thanks for the testimony.

My ears are grain barometers as well.  If I do get a touch of grain, my ears turn really red and itchy and flake for about 2 days until the offending ingredient leaves my system.

braaavvvooo Madl...braavooo hey nice to see ya back on our royal boards ....

Same thing happens to me. My ears get red, itchy and crusty for several days after ingesting wheat, corn or dairy. I also get swollen lumps behind my ears as well, which are very painful. No more avoids in my diet--no more sore ears!

Hey Janet...as Isa said...nice to see you back.  Besides the ears, how have you been?

Yes, I used to have big problems with ears too before BTD.   All through my life I had tons of wax, itchiness, plugged up, earaches, etc.  Wax was flushed out by the doctor and came out in BIG chunks.  Then I could hear, but the itchiness was still there.   Since BTD I have save a lot on Q-tips.   (Yes, I know...you are not supposed to put those in your ears.)

Debra

Hey, my ears itch when I eat wheat, too. Only took 50-some-odd years to find out, lol.
Soon as I went BTD it went away!

Okay, so enquiring minds want to know . . . why the heck do some people's ears itch and get red and crusty/waxy when they eat wheat? Obviously it's an inflammatory reaction, but why the ears specifically?

Maybe it's an ear mite-led rebellion or something.

Brighid...yes it's an interesting thought...I wonder why too...just sensitive I guess. A couple of years ago when I had my hearing tested at the opticians I asked her about the itching, she said it was possibly an allergy...doctors wouldn't hear of that of course!!

Jean...yes I could probably have worked it out that way too...if I'd had more awareness!

Jayneeo...yes I know what you mean...a little bit here & there seems to creep in...no good though!

Isa...I do come here and post sometimes, maybe just haven't seen me around for a while and yes I changed myself to 'nonnie' status...I know I must be so borderline and very different from Joseph...now he is a secretor for sure.

Debra...well I always thought my problem was that I wasn't making any wax but of course the Q tips were seeing to that!!!!

Suzanna...glad you found out too...am I'm glad I didn't go as long as YOU!! Actually I knew pre- btd that I couldn't eat the stuff but it is had to avoid it all the time.
But now....I have to say "No More!!"...I do not want to go back to all that pain & discomfort!!

Pat buddy....love ya!!!

So...there we are...thanks for your love & support.

Hey Janet, great to see you again!!  

And I have actually thought of you several times and wondered if you ever found a solution to your itching ears!  I'm so glad it was something so healthy and within your power to control.

Thanks for sharing.  

I haven't had the crusty, red thing but definitely itchy or feeling blocked like with mucus. And swimmer's ear as a kid. (doing dairy too will make it worse).

I think it's interesting that everyone here is A or O and a number of non-secretors...

My aunt was an A and we were the ones who had chronic ear trouble in the family.

Janet -- happy for you.   It's not easy.

I've been grain free for 2 weeks myself.   I haven't thought about my ears but do feel that my sinus are clearer (a constant problem).   Noticed I'm much less bloated.      I've lost about 8 lbs.   Also upped my exercise.


"swelling behind the ear"     My daughter had this problem for years - Dr removed the swelling and it turned out to be a swollen gland.  I'll encourage her to try going wheat free.  Her bf is gluten intollerent  so  maybe they could struggle together with the diet.

I never heard of anyone else having the red ears thing.  Mine do that too but I never connected it to wheat.  I HATE getting red ears, mine hurt, ache, itch and I always thought it was right before I got sick that it happened.  
I also suffered from ear congestion and vertigo which I spent a lot of money on trying to get diagnosed with something fixable.  Never did.  
I hope it WAS wheat cause I hardly ever eat it any more.  Just like the other day when I didn't have a choice.  Dinner at a friend's party was a giant ham and salami sub slices, chips and dip, marinated cauliflower, olives (which I can eat but didn't realize it at the time) and pretzels.  Beer, white wine and soda rounded it out.  Everyone asked for red wine so that won't happen again at her house, I bet!  I decided to just eat, but not too much so I had a sub slice, some bbq chips, one chip in dip and one cheese-filled pretzel.  2 glasses of pink wine, ick.  I didn't feel too bad, just pissed off the next day, as I usually do when I eat wheat now.  

Purlgirl...well done you for staying away from the stuff for the last 2 weeks...and losing the bloat that goes with it!!
I think it has to be a 'mindset'...to stay away from it completely!!

Bekki..that's interesting about mucus because Joseph suffers badly from that...Hm...will have to talk to him about that one!! Thanks!!

Hi Victoria...yes you are right, it is a solution I'm able to control.

Karen...I know it's hard when we eat out...I've just spent 5 days in the UK staying with my daughter & family. When we were out and they'd be grabbing a sandwich lunch but I was looking at the bean & rice salads etc...
Maybe we just have to 'educate' our friends & family because if it was something that was a 'danger' to our life eg peanut allergy they wouldn't expect us to eat it....

So many people are allergic/sentitive to wheat and don't realise it.  

   I also can relate to everyones issues with the ears.  Brighid45 asked a question yesterday as to why some people have the ear problems when they eat wheat.  The experience I had years ago led me to the idea that it's the bowel that's causing it.  There's a reflex relationship between organs, glands & tissues and certain parts of the bowel. And wheat irritates my bowel.  I had been told that I needed to do numerous colon cleanses to correct a bowel toxicity.  So, I proceeded to follow the instructions & in the process ended up with the worst ear problems that went on for months. I guess the cleansing got things stirred up.(especially the right ear).  Once I was told that the bowel was doing way better, my ear problem disappeared.  In the process I was also cleaning up my diet according to my blood type.  Now the only time I have a slight twinge in that ear again is when I've eaten wheat.  Like on my 2 week canoe trip, I must have eaten something not right, because I had that ear thing pop up again.  And I know that my bowel has gotten a little out of whack from this trip.  Been home for 2 days and getting back on track.

My A Teacher father has itchy, flaky ears.  He eats wheat upon occasion.  Mostly he follows the B/GTD when convenient.  I'll mention this to him.  He always thought it was swimmers' ear, but even using vinegar/peroxide/whatever in them for years, it's never gone away.

This is just an interesting thread!! Do these wheat reactions also get reflected in your fingerprintings with white lines?  I used to eat a lot of wheat and do not remember having such reactions to it, except for the creeping up of my weight!!! I was on the Teacher GTD diet until today, today I started my Swami.  On the GTD as a teacher, I could eat Spelt organic wheat, mainly in pasta.  I never touched wheat bread while in the diet, substituted it with Flaxseed bread. Lost a few kgs and fixed my cravings and hunger feeling.  Swami Xpress removed wheat from my SuperFoods and put it on the neutral (spelt wheat only), which makes sense with my white lines ... I will try to avoid it though and concentrate on the SFs.

BCGal, that's a very interesting idea. Have to do some research, but I think you're correct. That would make a lot of sense.

Cristina, I also have the white lines on my fingerprints from many years of eating wheat. They're fading slowly but still there.

Sounds like bacterial overgrowth to me A Teachers have a problem with this.  Bacteria maybe in the upper GI tract or sinus cavity.

Wheat may exacerbate it but the underlying problem is bacteria. So if you eliminate the wheat that is only treating the symptoms, get under the cause and get rid of it.

Good probiotics Blood Type A Polyflora the best ones. Feed those good bacteria so they stick around.

All I know is that in my life before BTD I used to have my ears flushed out every once in awhile.  Since BTD not once have I had to have this done.  I imagine it has to do with an inflammatory process by eating foods against blood type.  I began BTD in 1998 so I've gone a long without ear fullness.  

the flakiness and redness that I have is exzema: culprit, wheat.

For O Gatherers the issue will be different.

Not so much my ears but under my nose itches from wheat. My niece says that her whole face itches from wheat.

BCGal...Pre btd I always suspected that wheat gave me a sluggish bowel....and tried to avoid eating it so I'm not surprised at your findings.

Rabbit...I would definitely think your father's problem could be wheat. Last year I was referred to an ear specialist and she did all sorts of tests and in the end had no answers exept to use earplugs in the shower and take antibiotics!!

Newhampshiregirl....well wheat is actually a neutral for A secretors...but not for nonnies...just one more reason that I switched status. And...earwax? I look forward to making some now!!!

Jayneeo...looks like you & me have to give that stuff a wide birth!!!!

Andrea...yes maybe bacteria as in Candida, I've always been a prime candidate for that one!