Hi guys,

I've got a touch of swimmers ear at the moment (water lodged in my middle ear) and I'm looking for a remedy so that I don't miss out on any time in the water. Any suggestions?

I've seen the doctor and got some antibiotics to stop any infection happening, so that's all covered. Doctor said that I just have to wait it out, but it could take weeks for the water to drain - just need suggestions to speed up the process.

Thanks in advance

Blu tac and go surfing thats what I do...if you got the anti biotics that will sort it out make sure you use the drying out stuff afterwards

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Tux said..
Blu tac and go surfing thats what I do...if you got the anti biotics that will sort it out make sure you use the drying out stuff afterwards

Thanks Tux. What drying out stuff are you talking about?

In regards to bluetack, presumably you just mean make a temporary ear plug? Doesn't it fall out?........ I probably spend a lot more time underwater than you too

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Salty Sea Dog said..

Tux said..
Blu tac and go surfing thats what I do...if you got the anti biotics that will sort it out make sure you use the drying out stuff afterwards

Thanks Tux. What drying out stuff are you talking about?

In regards to bluetack, presumably you just mean make a temporary ear plug? Doesn't it fall out?........ I probably spend a lot more time underwater than you too

Clean out all that salty wax before you blu tac though.

Had problems with swimmers ear from exotosis bone growth in right ear like this for years. I got them syringed and immediate relief. Got sick of paying the doc to syringe them clear every 2 months so now I just use the jet setting on the removable showerhead. 15-30cm distance from the ear and increasing the temp/pressure over a 5 minute period, works a treat.haven't had a infection for over a year now and fully wear the pink silicon putty plugs from the chemist when surfing.

Aqua Ear to dry em out. Blue tack works as good as any ear plug you buy.......bit of olive oil in the ear occasionally to help soften any wax/sand/excess blue tac!!!

Aqua ear every time it gets wet as soon as possible.
Blue tac works as well as any plug I've tried, but I don't like the feeling of plugs so rarely use them.
If it's infected best to wait it out. Ruptured drums aren't fun.

I've just had the drill done , isn't too much fun either...

I find wearing a hood helps as well

Probably not the best advice but here goes...

Missus and I were in Mexico. She had a touch of swimmer's ear.
Antibiotics were going to be a challenge to get where we were.

Only option we had was aqua ear.
Hurt like absolute buggery apparently due the inflamation , but cleared up the problem.

This may not apply to middle ear??

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Dawn Patrol said..

I've just had the drill done , isn't too much fun either...

Only one I'd imagine? How's the other ? Local or general?

Just the one. My other ear wasn't anywhere near as bad. The one drilled was nearly fully over grown.

Mine was done under general and from behind the ear. 4-6 weeks of out of the water . You're all welcome for the cranking swell that will no doubt come now!

Thanks Dawny....when I had my left ear done ...Best waves I've seen at Scarborough ever.....until the following operation on my Right and yep.....even better run of really good waves locally......so thankyou very much, I'm waxing up the quiver right now

+1 for blu tac, I've used all sorts I earplugs and blu tac tops them.

Yeah +1 for Bluetack for me too. I had/have a perforated ear drum and bluetack works way better than the ear putty form the chemist.

I also have to have both ears drilled at some stage but in the meantime I am religious about aqua ear after any water time (or my personal mix of 50% rubbing alcohol and 50% white vinegar). Tried the blu tac thing and found that it worked but that it was very hard to get out of my ear when the time came.
Try the alcohol and vinegar mix though as it works the same and is heaps cheaper if you are using it a lot.
John

OK. Have mentioned this before in another forum but another cheap and effective method of drying the ear after a surf is using metho. Lots of divers in the very humid tropical north Qld have been using this for decades to good effect. (Also gets rid of water in fuel tanks)

ive had my ear drum surgically rebuilt, i dont use aqua ear as it doesnt like it for some reason... the specialsit has got me using hydogen proxide 3% solution after surfing it works a treat!!

When I have had an ear ache (infection) my wife has poured in garlic crushed in olive oil.

Cotton wool to hold it in and li on your side for quite some time. I have even done this with water stuck in it and it seems to seap in and deal with problem.

Smell can be a bitch if you dont like garlic.

I was starting to get ear ache problems and assumed I have some bone growth. Now religeously wear surf cap that covers the ears and now rarely get the ear ache.

Also a fan of ear candles to clear out

I get an ear ache on a regular basis.
Last time when I was in Bali bought the ear drops containing antibiotic. No prescription required. Worked like a magic.

After hearing about all the horror stories of swimmers/surfers ear I went and bought a cap to wear in the hope I can prevent any issues.

Prevention is the best cure!

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Dawn Patrol said...
Just the one. My other ear wasn't anywhere near as bad. The one drilled was nearly fully over grown.

Mine was done under general and from behind the ear. 4-6 weeks of out of the water . You're all welcome for the cranking swell that will no doubt come now!

Hi did you have your surgery in a public hospital? Any complications? Did you have to have a ct scan to see how close the oxtosis were to your ear drum in order to determine what method of surgery was required (behind the ear drill or chisel), mine are 80 - 90 % advanced extosis both ears, going for a ct scan next month then surgery all public. Had terrible blockages over the yrs.

I've had both ears drilled out about 6 years ago, both ears about 90% closed over, and eventually went deaf in my left ear. Wasn't fun, 10 weeks out of the water.

After about 3 years of back to my usual kiting and surfing without looking after my ears, my left ear canal started closing over again (up to 50% closed now) and getting infections again etc.

Much experimenting later, similar to most people on here, I found my solution as:

1 - Blue-tac - works better than any chemist ear plugs - but don't squish it into the ear canal, as you can get bits of tac stuck in the canal, making sand and other **** stick, which aint fun. Shape a piece of blue-tac about 5 - 7mm thick about the size of your thumb nail into a little triangle. Squish that triangle over the entrance to the ear canal and onto the other surfaces of the outer ear to hold it in place, without putting any blue-tac into the ear canal itself. Then use a hood or hat with ear covers on it to as additional help to hold it in. Although occasionally a tiny bit of water might get into the ear canal, it keeps the sand out, which is a key cause of trapping water, infections / inflamation etc.

2 - Aqua-ear - always - post surf / swim / kite.

If the ear does get gunky, there are blub-syringes you can purchase at a chemist, using warm water, to flush sand etc out. Then Aqua-ear to dry it.

Having used this technique for 3 years now, there is no further growth of surfers ear, so hopefully won't need the operation again.

Hope this helps someone.

Cheers.

I had both ears done, both were 90% closed over. The surgeon could only just see the ear canal in each ear, almost completely closed down.
I didn't have a CT scan, the surgeon just drilled out from the ear canal, not behind the ear.
CT scan for better understanding of the problem does sound like a good idea.
I was with private health insurance. No complications experienced.
Good luck with it.

Hey thanks for the info I appreciate it, yeah the specialist was saying the ct scan was to determine how close the bone growths are to the ear drum. If they are to close they will not be able to do the surgery externally therefore have to have the incision from behind the ear. Allready forked out 10 g for elbow surgery this yr so public system will be it for me this round going under the knife/drill.
Afterwards prevention from occurring again will be no1 priority because I have had my pterygiums removed (eye surgery) acouple of yrs ago as well Im over having to have surgery from being in the water. Thanks

Now if only more surgeons surfed, it would be like, yep you need your ears drilled, sunspots removed and penis reduced. There's a flat spell predicted for next month. Let's schedule the lot for one sitting shall we?

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djt91184 said...

Dawn Patrol said...
Just the one. My other ear wasn't anywhere near as bad. The one drilled was nearly fully over grown.

Mine was done under general and from behind the ear. 4-6 weeks of out of the water . You're all welcome for the cranking swell that will no doubt come now!

Hi did you have your surgery in a public hospital? Any complications? Did you have to have a ct scan to see how close the oxtosis were to your ear drum in order to determine what method of surgery was required (behind the ear drill or chisel), mine are 80 - 90 % advanced extosis both ears, going for a ct scan next month then surgery all public. Had terrible blockages over the yrs.

Nah I had mine done privately.

No complications at all, was back in the water 3.5 weeks after the surgery.

No CT scan.

The surgeon I had only (fairly sure) goes in behind the ear. He mentioned a large portion of his work is re-drilling people that have had it done through the ear canal.

It isn't that bad, it looks and sounds pretty gnarly, but as far as my op went it was as good as it could go.

Ok thanks for the info, I can't wait to get it done I cant have a shower without needing aqua ear these days