WHY ARE MY EARS SO ITCHY?

I've been told it's a symptom of perimenopause but I can't figure out how to soothe the symptom without scratching my ear canals until they bleed. They are SO itchy, especially upon waking in the morning. I have one of those silicone q-tip things and I don't push it all the way into my ear to scratch (don't need a damaged eardrum!) but I can't seem to scratch the itch and it's driving me insane! Does anyone else experience this and have you found a safe solution?