I need an advice from you swimmers,
My left ear started to ache 10 days ago. Since I had to go on a trip for few days, I decided not to take care of it assuming it would heal by itself. Well, it didn't. The doctor prescribed me with antibiotics. Both pills and ear drops for a week and recommended to avoid swimming. A friend of mine who also swims had a similar problem a while ago but hos doctor said that swimming would not worsen the inflammation.
Do you think that swimming with the inflammation would be a good idea? Should I try and use ear plugs for a while?
This is a common problem especially for younger swimmers with smaller ear canals who are in the water all day long. You should not swim with "swimmers ear" and try to keep any forerign objects out of your ear (ipod ear buds, etc.) while healing. The moisture left in your ear from swimming creates an environement for bacteria (or other microbes) to grow and may also prevent the drying and natural sloughing of wax from the ear, which compounds the problem.
When I was a kid, my mom used peroxide about once a week in each ear to bubble up the wax buidlup, but i'm not sure if this is still recommended or even necessay especially in an average adult. Because peroxide breaks down to water, don't use it while you have an ear infection, and make sure you get your ears dry afterwards too (see vinegar and alcohol below). There may be better wax removal products for this on the market today that could be used if you have a problem with wax buidling up.
To help dry your ears out after swimming you can buy over-the-counter ear drops, or make up your own from 50% white vinegar and and 50% rubbing alcohol. Put this in with an eye dropper and then dump it out of your ear. You will feel the alcohol evaporate, removing moisture, and somewhat disinfecting your ear canal too. I used this for my kids and myself, when needed. In most adults with bigger ear canals this would be enough to get the ears dry. At least for me, swimming in lakes, ocean, or poorly disinfected pool has a greater tendency to bring on the problem. A good web site:
www.mayoclinic.com/.../DSECTION=prevention
This is a common problem especially for younger swimmers with smaller ear canals who are in the water all day long. You should not swim with "swimmers ear" and try to keep any forerign objects out of your ear (ipod ear buds, etc.) while healing. The moisture left in your ear from swimming creates an environement for bacteria (or other microbes) to grow and may also prevent the drying and natural sloughing of wax from the ear, which compounds the problem.
When I was a kid, my mom used peroxide about once a week in each ear to bubble up the wax buidlup, but i'm not sure if this is still recommended or even necessay especially in an average adult. Because peroxide breaks down to water, don't use it while you have an ear infection, and make sure you get your ears dry afterwards too (see vinegar and alcohol below). There may be better wax removal products for this on the market today that could be used if you have a problem with wax buidling up.
To help dry your ears out after swimming you can buy over-the-counter ear drops, or make up your own from 50% white vinegar and and 50% rubbing alcohol. Put this in with an eye dropper and then dump it out of your ear. You will feel the alcohol evaporate, removing moisture, and somewhat disinfecting your ear canal too. I used this for my kids and myself, when needed. In most adults with bigger ear canals this would be enough to get the ears dry. At least for me, swimming in lakes, ocean, or poorly disinfected pool has a greater tendency to bring on the problem. A good web site:
www.mayoclinic.com/.../DSECTION=prevention
