Ear Canal Polyps - Aural Polyps

Aural polyps are noncancerous, fleshy growths in the outer ear canal or on your eardrum.

What is going on in the body?

Polyps usually form from constant irritation of the ear canal or eardrum. External ear infections, called chronic otitis externa, are the most common cause of this irritation.

What are the causes and risks of the condition?

Infection is the most common cause of aural polyps. Benign ear growths such as cholesteatoma, also known as ear cysts, can also show up as polyps. This problem most often forms from an ear canal that has something wrong with it. Or it may be a reaction to a tube placed in the eardrum.

Necrotizing externa otitis is a bone infection within the ear canal. This can also cause polyps. If the infection spreads, it can cause brain abscess, facial paralysis, deafness, meningitis, and bone infection of the base of the skull.