What Causes Clear, Odorless Ear Discharge & Why Your Ear is Leaking Fluid

Watery discharge from the ear symptoms explained

Some discharge from your ear is normal, such as earwax (cerumen), that protects the skin of your ear canal by keeping it clean and lubricated. Cerumen already provides a barrier against infection-causing bacteria, viruses, fungi, and potential damage caused by foreign objects. Sometimes, however, the amount of cerumen is excessive. Cerumen can become impacted, causing discomfort in your ear. Cerumen impaction can even cause problems with your hearing. Cerumen and other discharge from your ear can present in different colors and maybe reddish, dark brown, black, yellowish, off-white, or clear. Clear, odorless ear discharge may be due to recurrent childhood ear infections, injury to your ear canal, a foreign body, or even an upper respiratory infection like a cold.

Common accompanying symptoms

If you're experiencing clear, odorless ear discharge, you may also experience:

• Difficulty hearing
• Earache
• A feeling of fullness in the ear
• Itchiness in or just outside of the ear
• Coughing
• Dizziness
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Runny nose

Why is your ear leaking clear fluid?

The following details may help you better understand your symptoms and if and when you need to see a physician.

More common causes

The following are the most common causes of clear, odorless ear discharge.

• Thin cerumen: Some people make earwax that is more liquid than solid. Thin cerumen is normal and can be clear to yellowish in color.
• Eczematoid dermatitis: This is a skin condition that can occur in the ear canal, causing irritation, itching, flaking skin, and clear discharge.
• A ruptured eardrum This condition can be due to a middle ear infection (otitis media) and cause clear discharge.
• Cerebral spinal fluid leak: Clear cerebral spinal fluid may leak from the ears after a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
• Ear infection: Clear discharge from tympanostomy tube drainage may be an early sign of ear infection.

Less common causes

Less commonly, clear, odorless ear discharge might be due to a variety of skin conditions, middle ear diseases, tumors (benign or cancerous), herpes, radiation, or chemotherapy treatment.

Clear, odorless ear discharge conditions

Swimmer's ear (otitis externa)

Swimmer's ear, or otitis externa, is an infection of the canal which runs from the eardrum to the opening of the ear.

It is caused by anything that introduces bacteria, fungus, or a virus into the canal. Water that stays inside the ear after swimming is a common cause, as are cotton swabs used for cleaning or earpieces that create irritation.

Most susceptible are children, because they have narrower ear canals that do not drain well.

Early symptoms include redness, itching, and discomfort inside the ear canal, sometimes with drainage of clear fluid.

Even mild symptoms should be treated because they can quickly get worse. The infection can spread and intensify, becoming very painful with increased drainage, swelling, fever, and loss of hearing.

Diagnosis is made through patient history and physical examination of the ear canal. Lab tests may be done on a sample of the discharge from the ear.

Treatment includes having a medical provider clean the ear canal of debris and discharge, and a prescription for antibiotic and/or steroid eardrops.

Rarity: Common

Top Symptoms: fever, ear canal pain, ear fullness/pressure, jaw pain, ear pain that gets worse when moving

Urgency: Primary care doctor

Earwax blockage

Ear wax production is a normal process, as the body makes wax to protect the ear from infection. Sometimes ear wax can build up and cover the eardrum, which is a thin layer of skin that stretches across the end of the ear canal and picks up sound from outside. Ear wax buildup has nothing to do with poor hygiene, and it is not possible to prevent a build-up by washing.

Rarity: Uncommon

Top Symptoms: dizziness, dry cough, ear canal pain, ear fullness/pressure, ringing in the ears

Symptoms that never occur with earwax blockage: swollen ear, fever

Urgency: Phone call or in-person visit

Foreign body in external ear

An ear foreign body is anything that gets stuck in the ear canal other than earwax. This may include food, toy pieces, beads, buttons, disk batteries, cotton swab, paper, or insects. Foreign bodies are usually trapped in the outer ear canal.

Rarity: Uncommon

Top Symptoms: ear fullness/pressure, ear discharge, pain in one ear canal, bleeding from the ear, pus leaking from the ear

Urgency: Primary care doctor

Burst ear drum

The ear drum is a thin membrane that vibrates as sound hits it, transmitting that vibration into signals that the brain understands! When it bursts, your hearing is affected. It typically happens after some force to the ear drum, such as a blow to the ear, an exploding firecracker, a fall onto water, or even a sharp object in the ear.

Rarity: Rare

Top Symptoms: ear canal pain, constant ear pain, ringing in the ears, vertigo (extreme dizziness), hearing loss

Symptoms that always occur with burst ear drum: ear canal pain, recent ear injury, constant ear pain

Urgency: Primary care doctor

Cholesteatoma (a non-cancerous growth in the ear)

Cholesteatoma is a type of skin cyst that is located in the middle ear and mastoid bone in the skull. It can be a birth defect though more commonly occurs as a complication of chronic ear infection.

Rarity: Rare

Top Symptoms: ear fullness/pressure, ringing in the ears, pain in one ear canal, vertigo (extreme dizziness), hearing loss in one ear

Urgency: Primary care doctor

When and how to treat clear, odorless ear drainage

When to see a doctor

Depending on the cause of your clear, odorless ear discharge, your physician may recommend professional disimpaction of cerumen, antibiotics, or steroid medications.

At-home treatments

Good ear hygiene is key to preventing infection or other ailments. Try to adhere to the following.

• Leave the ears alone: Unless there is a buildup of excess earwax, trust your ears to clean themselves.
• Use irrigation: If you must clean your ears, irrigation is the safest and most effective method. Use hydrogen peroxide or mineral oil. Do not irrigate your ears if you have ear pain, if you think you have damage to your eardrum (tympanic membrane), or if you've had a lot of earaches in your life.
• Avoid swabbing: Swabbing your ears is potentially dangerous. Swabbing may remove some wax but can push wax deeper into the ear, or even puncture your eardrum.
• Avoid ear candling: Ear candling has not been found effective and is potentially dangerous as it may cause facial burns.
• Avoid wax remover kits: These kits which may contain sharp instruments.

When it is an emergency

Seek immediate medical care if you have clear, odorless ear discharge and the following symptoms.

• A recent head injury
• Ear fullness or pain
• A rash or itching in or around your ear
• Fever
• The discharge starts to smell foul or becomes pus-like
• Any loss of hearing
• Numbness, weakness, or paralysis on one side of your face
• Nausea and vomiting
• You know there is something in your ear that should not be there
• Jaw pain

Questions your doctor may ask about clear, odorless ear discharge

• Have you been experiencing dizziness?
• Have you noticed a change in your hearing?
• Any fever today or during the last week?
• Do you hear a ringing or whistling sound no one else hears?

Self-diagnose with our free Buoy Assistant if you answer yes on any of these questions.

Clear, odorless ear discharge statistics

People who have experienced clear, odorless ear discharge have also experienced:

• 12% Ear Canal Pain
• 11% Pain In One Ear Canal
• 9% Ear Fullness/Pressure

People who have experienced clear, odorless ear discharge were most often matched with:

• 40% Swimmer'S Ear (Otitis Externa)
• 40% Foreign Body In External Ear
• 20% Earwax Blockage

People who have experienced clear, odorless ear discharge had symptoms persist for:

• 34% Less than a day
• 29% Less than a week
• 21% Over a month

Source: Aggregated and anonymized results from Buoy Assistant (a.k.a. the quiz).