Ear infection and inflamed anus - treatments?

Hi there, my dog has an ear infection that's made her ears waxy, red and flaky. More her left than right. I've put EpiOtic in this morning and will do again tonight. As well as Neosporin on parts that looked most inflamed on the ear flaps. Is this enough to treat it? She also has a swollen, red and mucousy/crusty anus. She's had anal frunculosis in the past (4-5ish years ago) and nothing since, it doesn't look the same. I haven't seen her scooting or licking but I can tell it is sore for her. I gave her worming tablets, just incase. I applied neosporin to the area - can anyone tell me what else I could do?And Could these two things be related? She has a grass allergy and unfortunately, grass is unavoidable in our backyard. She had an allergy shot 2 months ago and her skin has completely calmed since. Any help would be much appreciated! Thank you

Ear disease is usually a recurring skin inflammation (allergy) and very rarely caused by infection at all.  The ear gets inflamed, so the dog scratches the ear because the allergy / inflammation itches.  The ear becomes even more badly inflamed.  The skin of the ear is damaged (scratched) and sometimes can become infected, but this is usually a secondary issue.  Treatment methods have therefore changed a lot since I was first a vet - we used to simply assume an infection and give antibiotics.  Nowadays antibiotics are still given sometimes (the normal bacteria can go a bit crazy because there's so much yummy ear exudate ('wax') to eat in the ear).  However most ear cases are caused by allergy and allergy, as you know, is lifelong: it WILL recurr.  It is typical for these dogs to have other signs of skin allergy as well.  Ears, as you know, are just skin down a hole.

It sounds as though the anti-allergic medication is helping to some extent.  I have used products where antiinflammatories are applied directly to the ear, which may be worth asking your vet about (it depends on the other prescriptions etc). i do wonder about the grassy back-yard; it sounds a bit like sending someone with a cat allergy to a cat shelter.   On the other hand, grass is hard to completely avoid!  - so preventative treatment and regular assessments may prove to be the best you can do.   Skin allergies in dogs sound very mild, but they can be frustrating to treat especially at certain times of year.  Wishing you both all the best