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:
Parents
Former Member
I too had swimmers ear (pretty severe and recurrant) as a kid.
Here's what worked for me per a great ENT doc.
Once you have the infection (there's pain and usually a small sized "pea" that you can feel w/ your fingertips back behind you ear), go to the doc and get specific drops to cure the infection. Stay out of the water for a couple of days.
Once your infection is gone, after each swim, use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, and cod liver oil - 3:2:1 ratio (shake before using; place a few drops in each ear to get the water out) and then dry out your ears w/ a hair dryer on med or cool heat (pull ears back to ensure air gets into ear canal) for a minute or two.
This has prevented me from getting any swimmers ear infections since I started doing it as a kid and I've never needed to go to the ENT again so he can "vacuum" out the dead scaly skin (cod liver oil prevents the scales from forming).
I had no need for ear plugs ever.
ENT said I had very angular ear canals which would cause water to get stuck in them unless I took preventative measures.
Good luck!
I too had swimmers ear (pretty severe and recurrant) as a kid.
Here's what worked for me per a great ENT doc.
Once you have the infection (there's pain and usually a small sized "pea" that you can feel w/ your fingertips back behind you ear), go to the doc and get specific drops to cure the infection. Stay out of the water for a couple of days.
Once your infection is gone, after each swim, use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, and cod liver oil - 3:2:1 ratio (shake before using; place a few drops in each ear to get the water out) and then dry out your ears w/ a hair dryer on med or cool heat (pull ears back to ensure air gets into ear canal) for a minute or two.
This has prevented me from getting any swimmers ear infections since I started doing it as a kid and I've never needed to go to the ENT again so he can "vacuum" out the dead scaly skin (cod liver oil prevents the scales from forming).
I had no need for ear plugs ever.
ENT said I had very angular ear canals which would cause water to get stuck in them unless I took preventative measures.
Good luck!
