Ear Tickle, Itch, Tingle, Crawling, Tremor Sensation and Anxiety
Ear tickle, itch, tingle, or other odd sensation in the ear can be anxiety symptoms, including anxiety and panic attack symptoms.
As unusual as this symptom is, it is common for people with anxiety issues.
This article explains the relationship between anxiety and tickle, itch, tingle or other odd sensations in the ear.
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Common Tickle, Itch, Tingle, Crawling, Tremor Sensations In The Ear Anxiety Symptom Descriptions
- One or both ears uncharacteristically tickle, itch, or tingle inside.
- Sometimes, the tickle, itch, or tingle can be alleviated by scratching or rubbing inside the ear canal(s), and sometimes nothing seems to alleviate this symptom.
- It can also feel like something inside your ear is making it tickle, itch, or tingle, but a visual inspection shows nothing inside the ear canal.
- You have an unusual tickle, itch, or tingle sensation coming from one or both ears.
This symptom can affect one ear only, shift and affect the other ear, migrate back and forth from ear to ear, and affect both ears simultaneously.
This symptom can:
- Occur occasionally, frequently, or persistently.
- Precede, accompany, or follow an escalation of other anxiety symptoms or occur by itself.
- Precede, accompany, or follow a period of nervousness, anxiety, fear, and stress, or occur "out of the blue" for no reason.
- Range in intensity from mild, to moderate, to severe.
- Come in waves where it’s strong one moment and eases off the next.
- Occur for a while, subside, and then return for no reason.
- Change from day to day, moment to moment, or remain as a constant background during your struggle with anxiety disorder.
This symptom can seem more noticeable when undistracted, resting, trying to sleep, or waking up.
All the above combinations and variations are common.
To see if anxiety might be playing a role in your symptoms, rate your level of anxiety using our free one-minute instant results Anxiety Test, Anxiety Disorder Test, or Hyperstimulation Test.
The higher the rating, the more likely anxiety could be contributing to or causing your anxiety symptoms, including feeling like impending doom symptoms.
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Causes
Medical Advisory
Talk to your doctor about all new, changing, persistent, and returning symptoms as some medical conditions and medications can cause anxiety-like symptoms.
The ear, an organ, comprises a complex system of nerves, muscles, bones, and pressure intricately organized to provide sound and balance information to the brain.
Because of its complexity, diagnosing ear-related problems can be difficult. For example, there can be many causes of this symptom, such as something has entered the ear canal, injury to the ear, ear wax buildup, an adverse reaction to medication, sinus or ear infection, dry skin in the ear canal, “swimmer’s ear,” and a variety of other medical causes. Because of the many causes, it’s best to discuss this symptom with your doctor.
This symptom can also be caused by stress (both acute and chronic), including the stress caused by overly anxious behavior and hyperstimulation.
While the specific cause is unknown, stress has been linked to tickling, itching, or tingling in the ear.[1]
This could occur for a few reasons. For instance:
1. Stress, including anxiety- and hyperstimulation-caused stress, can cause tickling, itching, and tingling skin on any part of the body, including in the ear and ear canal.
Visit our “Skin Anxiety Symptoms” article for more information about anxiety and skin symptoms.
2. Stress, including anxiety- and hyperstimulation-caused stress, can change the pressure in the ear.[2] Ear pressure changes can cause many symptoms, including reduced hearing, pressure, a plugged feeling in the ear, and a tickling, itching, and tingling sensation.
Visit the Ear Symptoms section on our Anxiety Symptoms page for all the ways stress can create ear symptoms.
3. Stress suppresses the immune system, which can allow intruders to affect the body, including the ear. Infections and inflammation in the ear can cause tickling, itching, and tingling sensations in the ear.
No matter the cause, tickling, itching, or tingling ears are common symptoms of stress, including anxiety- and hyperstimulation-caused stress.
I (Jim Folk) experienced this symptom, too, and in many ways when I was struggling with anxiety disorder. Sometimes, one ear was affected, and sometimes, both were affected. As I dealt with my anxiety issues and reduced my stress, these symptoms subsided.
Other Factors
Other factors can create stress and cause anxiety-like symptoms, as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including:
- Medication
- Recreational drugs
- Stimulants
- Sleep deprivation
- Fatigue
- Hyper and hypoventilation
- Low blood sugar
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Dehydration
- Hormone changes
- Pain
Select the relevant link for more information.
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Treatment
When this symptom is caused by other factors, addressing the cause will eliminate tickling, itching, and tingling ears.
When this symptom is caused by stress, whether acute or chronic, containing anxious behavior and reducing your stress should alleviate this symptom in time.
Visit our “60 Natural Ways To Reduce Stress” article for more ways to reduce stress.
Recovery Support members can view chapters 5, 6, 7, 14 and more for more detailed information about recovering from hyperstimulation and anxiety disorder.
As the body recovers from the adverse effects of stress, it stops exhibiting symptoms, including this one.
Recovery Support
The Recovery Support area of our website contains thousands of pages of important self-help information to help individuals overcome anxiety disorder, hyperstimulation, and symptoms.
Due to the vast amount of information, including a private Discussion Forum, many of our Recovery Support members consider it their online recovery support group.
Therapy
Unidentified and unaddressed underlying factors cause issues with anxiety. As such, they are the primary reason why anxiety symptoms persist.
Addressing your underlying factors (Level Two recovery) is most important if you want lasting success.
Addressing Level Two recovery can help you:
- Contain anxious behavior.
- Become unafraid of anxiety symptoms and the strong feelings of anxiety.
- End anxiety symptoms.
- Successfully address the underlying factors that so often cause issues with anxiety.
- End what can feel like out-of-control worry.
All our recommended anxiety therapists have had anxiety disorder and overcame it. Their personal experience with anxiety disorder and their Master's Degree and above professional training give them insight other therapists don't have.
If you want to achieve lasting success over anxiety disorder, any one of our recommended therapists would be a good choice.
Working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to treat anxiety disorder, especially if you have persistent symptoms and difficulty containing anxious behavior, such as worry.[3][4][5]
In many cases, working with an experienced therapist is the only way to overcome stubborn anxiety.
Research has shown that therapy is the most effective treatment for anxiety disorder, and distance therapy (via phone or the Internet) is equally, if not more effective, than face-to-face in-person therapy.[6][7][8]
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Comments
When I was struggling with anxiety disorder, as I reduced my stress and dealt with my anxiety, this symptom disappeared. However, it does return from time to time when I allow my stress to build up. When this symptom returns, I simply take time to rest and unwind, and over time, it subsides again.
NOTE: Some people find that reducing the consumption of salt, getting regular mild to moderate exercise, and getting good sleep helps to reduce and eliminate this symptom.
Common Anxiety Symptoms
Additional Resources
- For a comprehensive list of Anxiety Disorders Symptoms Signs, Types, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
- Anxiety and panic attacks symptoms can be powerful experiences. Find out what they are and how to stop them.
- How to stop an anxiety attack and panic.
- Free online anxiety tests to screen for anxiety. Two minute tests with instant results. Such as:
- Anxiety 101 is a summarized description of anxiety, anxiety disorder, and how to overcome it.
Return to our anxiety disorders signs and symptoms page.
anxietycentre.com: Information, support, and therapy for anxiety disorder and its symptoms, including Ear Tickle, Itch, Tingle, Crawling, Tremor Sensations in the Ear anxiety symptoms.
References
1. "Causes of Ear Itching." Audiology & Hearing Health, 15 Nov 2019.
2. Juhn, S.K., et al. "Effect of stress-related hormones on inner ear fluid homeostasis and function." National Library of Medicine, 20 Nov 1999.
3. Hofmann, Stefan G., et al. “The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-Analyses.” Cognitive Therapy and Research, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2012.
4. Leichsenring, Falk. “Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the Gold Standard for Psychotherapy?” JAMA, American Medical Association, 10 Oct. 2017.
5. DISCLAIMER: Because each body is somewhat chemically unique, and because each person will have a unique mix of symptoms and underlying factors, recovery results may vary. Variances can occur for many reasons, including due to the severity of the condition, the ability of the person to apply the recovery concepts, and the commitment to making behavioral change.
6. Kingston, Dawn.“Advantages of E-Therapy Over Conventional Therapy.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 11 Dec. 2017.
7. Markowitz, John, et al. “Psychotherapy at a Distance.” Psychiatry Online, March 2021.
8. Thompson, Ryan Baird, "Psychology at a Distance: Examining the Efficacy of Online Therapy" (2016). University Honors Theses. Paper 285.