If I am prone to ear infections(which I am), would it hurt me scratch my ears with my fingernails?

I ask this b/c my ears itch alot and I often do scratch them with my fingertips and now I wonder if that contributes or can cause earaches and subsequently ear infections.

Here's a trick to prevent ear aches that I learned in my competitive swimming days. I used to get a lot of ear aches in the summer from even the tiniest amount of water getting trapped in the inner ear. Combined with the water, heat and humidity, my inner ear became a breading ground for bacteria growth. Hence the ear aches. It was called swimmer's ear. I bought an expensive formula to drop in my ears after swimming and it stopped entirely, but the stuff was expensive. A friend told me that isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) will do just as well.

I tried it and it works!

Today, I live in a tropical climate. It's extremely hot and humid here ... always. Every time I shower or swim, afterwards I drop a little rubbing alcohol in my ears and never get an ear ache unless I'm in a hurry and forget to do it.

Apparently, the alcohol kills the bacteria and when the it rapidly evaporates, it attaches itself to the water and evaporates the water with it. Presto, no water in the inner ear to sustain the the bacteria.

it can

I was prone to ear infections when I was a baby so much so that I lost the hearing in one ear. If you are scratching your ears so much that they are bleeding or becoming red and inflamed I would say yes you are causing damage and could be bringing on more problems. Your hands also have alot of dirt and germs on them and if you ear is allready infected I wouldnt want to have more germs put in there so my advise is try not to scratch as much as possible let them heal belive me I know that hard to do though.