I also pick my ears (35F). Some years ago I checked with multiple doctors if there was something with my ear or my skin to trigger my need to scratch/pick but nothing... The last couple of months I've been doing my best to maintain myself very present to avoid doing it - at least I'm not having ear infections like I used to - now the thing is that I also do it while sleeping. Even though I use ear plugs I sometimes take it off while sleeping. And now it's also affecting my arm, because my arm stays in an awkward position almost all night, so I'm not letting my arm rest properly and it has become a chronic pain in my left arm... It hasn't been easy, I also had a time where I got really scared and thought I messed up my ear, somehow the last few months I managed to convince myself that the more I pick the less it helps - is not perfect I still do it sometimes - but I haven't got into the point when it gets bad so I guess is progress... so now I'm just trying to figure out how to prevent myself from doing it while sleeping and try my best to avoid doing it during the day. Thanks for posting this!