Who else has ever gotten "swimmers ear"

Hey, When I first started swimming last year I immediately got swimmer's ear. I was out of the water for 2 weeks, on medicated drops and then tried the vinegar/alcohol drops, but got swimmer's ear AGAIN! I'm not a patient person and I don't like to mess around, so I shelled out money for a nifty widget called the Sahara Ear Dry. I feel like a total nerd with my special ear dryer, but I have never had swimmer's ear again. I love that thing! Willow Based on Willow’s post, I immediately got one. Now for my initial reaction to it! I bought the unit off of eBay for $69.99 from a company in Hawaii. Took about 2 weeks to finally arrive. Today was my first swim with it. First a description of the unit (the product website is http://www.dryear.net/). The thing is an air blower that weighs about 7 ounces and uses a wall wart to power the rechargeable battery. The manufacturers site says that the charge is good for 50 uses at 90 seconds per use (or 25 if doing both ears) before needing a recharge. It also comes with 5 different color earpiece thingies so if you have multiple members of the family using it, they all get their own color earpiece. The earpiece just snaps right off. I used a different color earpiece for each ear. The unit also folds in half (like a clamshell) when not in use to make a nice little package (and also cover the earpiece. Next up, using the dryer. After swimming and the ubiquitous shower, I opened the clamshell, pushed the on button and held the thing up to my right ear. According to the directions: “Gently place the DryEar earpiece directly into the ear. It is not necessary to push the earpiece into the ear, just comfortably seat on the outside of the ear canal and adjust the dryer angle until you feel the maximized airflow into your ear canal.” Once the right ear was done, I changed the earpiece and repeated on the left ear. The directions also say that the earpieces need to be cleaned after each use. My thoughts. Well, it seemed to work. No sensation of water in either of my ears. No pain, no fuss, no muss. Strangely, the company’s literature says that the dryer automatically shuts off after 90 seconds however I timed it at 66 seconds. Believe me that even 66 seconds seems like a fairly long time holding something to your ear! The real PIA came when both the earpieces need had to be cleaned after use. This feels like the one real downside (except the initial cost) to this thing. By the way, after I washed the earpieces, I put them in one of the empty Mack’s earplug containers for storage (I got a bunch of them lying around). Economics. I’ve been using 1 pair of the Mack’s silicone earplugs every 6 days and a 12 pack (6 pairs) costs me $4.69 ($4.38 plus tax at Wally World) or $0.130278 per swim. Ignoring the cleaning (hot water/soap), recharging and travel to Wal-Mart costs, payback is 538 days (roughly) or 1 year 5 months 22 days. Call it a year and a half. This assumes that the earpieces last almost indefinitely. If they don’t, a 20 pack of them is available for $11.99 plus shipping. Other thoughts The economics only work if I don’t lose the unit and the earplugs. Cleaning the earplugs is a pain but I see three possibilities: 1. Don’t clean them after each use. They aren’t doing into the ear canal. 2. Buy the 20 pack and after each use put the used pair in a container and use a new pair the next time. After 12 times, clean all 24 at once. Faster, more efficient, less of a PIA. I’ll check with the manufacturer and see if they can go in the dishwasher. 3. Clean them when I shower after swimming and, while they are drying, use the other pair). I’ll probably do number 3 for a few months until I’m comfortable that it is working then buy another 20 and go to number 2. This would make the payback just under 2 years. Final thoughts. Oh what a pleasure to swim without earplugs after some 6-7 years. It’s like I was reborn. Now, if only it works. Katie, thanks for starting this thread and Willow, thanks for pointing out this product. I’ll give an update every so often. Swimmingly, Swan

Hey, When I first started swimming last year I immediately got swimmer's ear. I was out of the water for 2 weeks, on medicated drops and then tried the vinegar/alcohol drops, but got swimmer's ear AGAIN! I'm not a patient person and I don't like to mess around, so I shelled out money for a nifty widget called the Sahara Ear Dry. I feel like a total nerd with my special ear dryer, but I have never had swimmer's ear again. I love that thing! Willow Based on Willow’s post, I immediately got one. Now for my initial reaction to it! I bought the unit off of eBay for $69.99 from a company in Hawaii. Took about 2 weeks to finally arrive. Today was my first swim with it. First a description of the unit (the product website is http://www.dryear.net/). The thing is an air blower that weighs about 7 ounces and uses a wall wart to power the rechargeable battery. The manufacturers site says that the charge is good for 50 uses at 90 seconds per use (or 25 if doing both ears) before needing a recharge. It also comes with 5 different color earpiece thingies so if you have multiple members of the family using it, they all get their own color earpiece. The earpiece just snaps right off. I used a different color earpiece for each ear. The unit also folds in half (like a clamshell) when not in use to make a nice little package (and also cover the earpiece. Next up, using the dryer. After swimming and the ubiquitous shower, I opened the clamshell, pushed the on button and held the thing up to my right ear. According to the directions: “Gently place the DryEar earpiece directly into the ear. It is not necessary to push the earpiece into the ear, just comfortably seat on the outside of the ear canal and adjust the dryer angle until you feel the maximized airflow into your ear canal.” Once the right ear was done, I changed the earpiece and repeated on the left ear. The directions also say that the earpieces need to be cleaned after each use. My thoughts. Well, it seemed to work. No sensation of water in either of my ears. No pain, no fuss, no muss. Strangely, the company’s literature says that the dryer automatically shuts off after 90 seconds however I timed it at 66 seconds. Believe me that even 66 seconds seems like a fairly long time holding something to your ear! The real PIA came when both the earpieces need had to be cleaned after use. This feels like the one real downside (except the initial cost) to this thing. By the way, after I washed the earpieces, I put them in one of the empty Mack’s earplug containers for storage (I got a bunch of them lying around). Economics. I’ve been using 1 pair of the Mack’s silicone earplugs every 6 days and a 12 pack (6 pairs) costs me $4.69 ($4.38 plus tax at Wally World) or $0.130278 per swim. Ignoring the cleaning (hot water/soap), recharging and travel to Wal-Mart costs, payback is 538 days (roughly) or 1 year 5 months 22 days. Call it a year and a half. This assumes that the earpieces last almost indefinitely. If they don’t, a 20 pack of them is available for $11.99 plus shipping. Other thoughts The economics only work if I don’t lose the unit and the earplugs. Cleaning the earplugs is a pain but I see three possibilities: 1. Don’t clean them after each use. They aren’t doing into the ear canal. 2. Buy the 20 pack and after each use put the used pair in a container and use a new pair the next time. After 12 times, clean all 24 at once. Faster, more efficient, less of a PIA. I’ll check with the manufacturer and see if they can go in the dishwasher. 3. Clean them when I shower after swimming and, while they are drying, use the other pair). I’ll probably do number 3 for a few months until I’m comfortable that it is working then buy another 20 and go to number 2. This would make the payback just under 2 years. Final thoughts. Oh what a pleasure to swim without earplugs after some 6-7 years. It’s like I was reborn. Now, if only it works. Katie, thanks for starting this thread and Willow, thanks for pointing out this product. I’ll give an update every so often. Swimmingly, Swan