Red ear syndrome

Red ear syndrome
A red ear syndrome attack, with affected ear on the left

Red ear syndrome (RES) is a rare disorder of unknown etiology which was originally described in 1994. The defining symptom of red ear syndrome is redness of one or both external ears, accompanied by a burning sensation.^[1] A variety of treatments have been tried with limited success.^[1]

Red ears are also often a classic symptom of relapsing polychondritis (RP), a rare autoimmune disease that attacks various cartilage areas (and sometimes other connective tissue areas) in the body; research estimates that RP affects 3-5 people per million. Red ears in RP indicate inflamed cartilage (and sometimes the skin of the outer ear along with the cartilage) and often cause moderate to extreme pain during “flares” of the disease, which can be acute and/or chronic. Red ears in RP can be bilateral or unilateral, and are described as “earlobe sparing” due to the lack of cartilage in the earlobe. Prolonged inflammation can eventually result in deteriorated ear cartilage (often described as “cauliflower ear” or “floppy ear”), and even partial or total loss of hearing.