Swim Ear - to swim or not to swim?

If the pain in your ears is that bad, I'd see your doctor and follow whatever they tell you. If they say to stay out of the pool for 2 weeks, then that's exactly what I'd do. I've had ear infections almost annually since I've been swimming, some to the point of extreme pain, especially if I tried to touch my ear or the side of my face (sleeping was a problem). Sometimes the doctor would prescribe the drops, sometimes an antiboitic tablet, sometimes both. Once, I had the pain, found some old drops, and began taking them. Turned out it just made my ears worse. Prescriptions have a limited shelf life, even if the expiration date is OK, they may not be OK anymore if the bottle has been opened. The last thing you want is to lose your hearing. If you feel the need to see a doctor do what they tell you to do.

No problem with pressures. That only happens when you go deep, plus 8 feet mininum. You don't EVER want to wear ear plugs when diving deeper than 7 to 10 feet, because you need to equalize the pressures in the inner ear with outer ear. No problem with swimming though. billy fanstone

Thanks! :hug:

I would stay out of the water until my ears feel better. When I get swimmers ear it really messes with my equiliberium (sp?). I got on the eardrops and rode it out. Got Boost

my vote on this topic, when it comes to your health (here comes a Jonny Cochran-esque line).... When in doubt, probably best to stay out. :2cents:

ok, I guess I was wrong about my ear thing....panicking is what I do! Called the doc and his first question was - how's your sinuses? Well, the nose is a little off but nothing too bad! So, first thing to try - regular 12 hour decongestant, and guess what!? No pain!!!!! I guess my allergy was acting up and it went into my ears!!!!! Still, I'll stay out of the water for a few days just to make sure! Thank you all for your help! Love the cap idea!!!!

Well, here goes....3 weeks before the meet and my ears go to hell!!!!! :frustrated: Today after a good morning swim I got very familiar pain in BOTH of my ears which is much worse now!!!!! GRRRRR!!!! Anyway, I probably will call my doc tomorrow for more ear drops, but the question is: should I wait 5-6 days for the pain to clear or should I try and swim with ear plugs (of course if I can put them in without falling down). Any ideas? Or should I just do land exercises? Thanks again in advance for your patience with me and all you help! :notworthy: As a swimmer that used to get such bad ear infections the doctors used to give me such a high dose of codine the pharmacists would call to verify ... I would say stay out of the water. The best drops are ones you can easily make on your own, rubbing alcohol and vinegar, not only does it smell great, but it works better than anything else. We used to keep it in the old school film containers and my dad used to dump it in one ear, put a cotton ball in let it get in there and switch to the other ear after 10 minutes or so ... I use ear plugs every practice, every race ... it sucks but I would get instant swimmers ear otherwise ...

Thank you! I use the kind of drops you are talking about after every practice or shower, I thought it was only for drying the water in the ears not for treating the painful infection or whatever it is.... Does it work for the hurties? I am talking about medicated drops, I still have some left from last time....so....maybe I'll finish the bottle. ;) They could probably give me and MD for ears only but they haven't yet ... here's my non MD advice/insight ... The drops will dry out your ears, if swimmers ear is the source of the problem then it will help. If I recall correctly (last time I had a problem I was 13 and on massive drugs in the ER at 1 am) the water is filling the ears and causing the pain, drying it out should alleviate most of the pain, unless there is an acutal infection. I know that was always the first step - drying out the ears. Speedo has some decent silicone ear plugs that work alright if you smoosh them into your ears, I use them constantly. I would start using those for every practice and race from now on AND for good measure throw in those good smelling drops ever so often, too ... GOOD LUCK!

Oh, it depends on the problem, that is why I said if it is just water then the alcohol mix is fine, otherwise see the Dr. I had riddiculous ear infections as a kid, the ENT and I were on a first name basis, I went to the ER multiple times with ear infections, missed weeks of school, almost went deaf and was told my all the ER docs, my general doc, and the ENT that alcohol/vinegar drops are fine if just for water removal. I hope that was clear. My ear infections took several days, sometimes a few weeks to clear up. One time was so bad that my ear canals were so swollen they basically knocked me out on drugs for 2 or 3 days. Since I started using plugs I have not had one problem ...

My MD (a swimmer) told me to stay out of the water for 4-5 days, a week if I could stand it, to let the antibiotic drops work. (I thought the conventional wisdom is that once you have the infection, the alcohol/vinegar doesn't work anymore...it's more a preventitive). Then use plugs until the medicine was done. I found I could keep them in if I cut off the top of a tight swim cap, pulled it down low over my ears and stuffed the plugs in then. I wore another cap over it just because I like my head covered.