Swimmers Ear

oouurr__aayylleeyycan
oouurr__aayylleeyycan Posts: 149
edited November 9 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi - I'm not sure if I've posted this in the right section or not but hopefully there'll be people to help!

I was wondering if anyone knew how to get rid of Swimmers Ear? I have water in my ear that I can't get out and it's quite painful and the blockage is making it difficult to hear. I know it's quite a common problem with swimmers so I was wondering if anyone had any useful tips? :-)

I've Googled it already but some of the suggestions online seem a bit wild and wacky, suggesting I put all sorts of stuff in my ear which I'm not too keen on doing, so I'm asking really for tried and tested methods that people know to work.

Thanks!

EDIT: FYI - I got the water in my ear from bathing, not swimming because I'm an actual idiot :P

Replies

  • oouurr__aayylleeyycan
    oouurr__aayylleeyycan Posts: 149
    Bump?? :)
  • david_swinstead
    david_swinstead Posts: 271 Member
    Err .. rebump?
  • Lady_who_Lunches
    Lady_who_Lunches Posts: 38
    I've got it at the moment:( .You need Sofradex but not sure if you can get it without a doctors prescription......Good Luck because it's terrible when it turns painful and/or you go a little deaf for a few days
  • Chloooe22
    Chloooe22 Posts: 41 Member
    Not sure how to get rid of it but im looking into starting swimming every week and hope to god i dont get this as im really fussy about my ears!!! x
  • eeebee
    eeebee Posts: 471 Member
    poor you, i used to get it all the time when i was in a school swim team and it's so irritating!

    it sounds (and looks) stupid but it might work, depending on how long you've had the water in your ear and how much went in.....it worked for me every time, sometimes after a few attempts with long intervals in between...sometimes it took a whole day or two of intermittent attempts but it always helped:

    tilt your head to the side (watery ear facing floor) and imagine your head is a glass heinz ketchup bottle :laugh: and just shake (not in a semi circle but just straight up and down) it again and again....it should loosen the water pocket somewhat. if this doesnt work after several attempts, try lying down after trying this with ear touching bed (no pillow) for a few minutes. be careful with your neck, you have to do this "shake" in a controlled manner so as not to cause injury or strain.

    i hate water in my ears with a passion, so i recently bought ear plugs for swimming, trust me they are a Godsend, i recomend using them for swimming and bathing.

    good luck
  • oouurr__aayylleeyycan
    oouurr__aayylleeyycan Posts: 149
    I've got it at the moment:( .You need Sofradex but not sure if you can get it without a doctors prescription......Good Luck because it's terrible when it turns painful and/or you go a little deaf for a few days

    Thanks I'll see if I can find some this week! I'm going through the sore and partially deaf stage now and it's not fun at all :(
  • oouurr__aayylleeyycan
    oouurr__aayylleeyycan Posts: 149
    poor you, i used to get it all the time when i was in a school swim team and it's so irritating!

    it sounds (and looks) stupid but it might work, depending on how long you've had the water in your ear and how much went in.....it worked for me every time, sometimes after a few attempts with long intervals in between...sometimes it took a whole day or two of intermittent attempts but it always helped:

    tilt your head to the side (watery ear facing floor) and imagine your head is a glass heinz ketchup bottle :laugh: and just shake (not in a semi circle but just straight up and down) it again and again....it should loosen the water pocket somewhat. if this doesnt work after several attempts, try lying down after trying this with ear touching bed (no pillow) for a few minutes. be careful with your neck, you have to do this "shake" in a controlled manner so as not to cause injury or strain.

    i hate water in my ears with a passion, so i recently bought ear plugs for swimming, trust me they are a Godsend, i recomend using them for swimming and bathing.

    good luck

    Thanks I'll give this a go tonight and see how I get on.... it's the most annoying thing ever, I'm sure! xx
  • maddymama
    maddymama Posts: 1,183 Member
    Drop a bit of vinegar into your ear to help dry out the water, or try some hyrdogen peroxide.

    If it's at the painful stage, you most likely need to get a prescription of antibiotic drops from a doctor.... The pain will just get worse.........

    FWIW- I am PRONE to swimmer's ear, and I drop a bit of vinegar into my ears after I swim. It cuts down my getting swimmer's ear to once or twice a year instead of once a month.
  • inuit
    inuit Posts: 72 Member
    I get it quite a bit - if i wear earplugs it is not too bad, i swim 5 days a week, but when i swim with my waterproof mp3, i do not get such a good seal in my right ear. Suffering as we speak.

    It is a case of trying to release it, i tip my head, pull my earlobe down or put my finger just inside, not down the ear canal and again pull downwards or wiggle around so you ear canal bit moves about slightly. Open and rotate your jaw or yawn, press on the outside of the ear flap the bit near the opening so it seals and creates a small vacuum and let go, basically anything move your ear canal about. Dont go sticking anything down, as tempting as it may be. Just be gentle.

    Sometimes it takes a day to go, other times abit of jaw wiggling and head tipping and it goes straight away.

    Hope it goes soon, i know how painful and irratating it can be. If it sticks around for more than a coupleof days or so, perhaps a trip to the docs is called for.
  • ratkins811
    ratkins811 Posts: 190 Member
    I went through this last fall and found the only thing that worked for me was musinx (sp?). After about 3 days I could hear again. good luck it is a horrible frustrating thing.
  • Beezil
    Beezil Posts: 1,677 Member
    Swimmers ear is exactly why I make sure to get all the water out of my ears after I swim, every time I swim or bathe. If that means laying on my side for an hour or two, I will do it to make sure the water drains. Usually I can just shake it out though... or gently tilt my head to the side and it will drain. If you have pain, it's probably too late for just getting the water to come out... any time it's gotten to the point of pain for me, I got an ear infection and had to get medicine. =/ I hope you don't though! Best of luck! :heart:
  • leann74016
    leann74016 Posts: 242 Member
    I'm not sure what i had going on yesterday but I couldn't hear out of my ear at all and it hurt terrible to touch it. I went home and took the most effective allergy medicine i had on hand which was an off brand from walmart (so not to effective, but it worked) and took it every 4 hrs as recommended. I also took 2 ibeuprofin to help with pain. Then last night i put a heating pad in my pillow case and slept on the ear that was sore and this morning i woke up pain free. Still hear a bit of ringing though but the pain is gone and i can hear a lil better today. Pretty sure my ear problem is due to sinus drainage though.
  • harrietsmama
    harrietsmama Posts: 26
    I used to swim 6 days a week and I only rarely got it - I put my ears under the warm spray in the shower. my coach swore by putting alcohol on cotton balls in his ears after he swam.

    If you are already sore (infected) you can do garlic infused olive oil, it works wonders!!! Better yet if you can get to a whole foods or other place with herbals, garlic-mullein oil by Herb Pharm is great stuff!!!
  • westdove
    westdove Posts: 174
    I had it a year ago, and had to get ear drops for it, but it was prescribed by a doctor. They are expensive, but work. I feel your pain, swimmers ear is NOT fun :(
This discussion has been closed.

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