Without trying to give a medical definition of “Swimmer’s Ear” I will give some suggestions on how to avoid it. “Swimmers Ear” is usually caused by small amounts of water standing in the ear canal for long periods of time causing fungal and other types of painful problems. This is pretty hard to avoid as a competitive swimmer can spend, on average, between 2 and 4 hours in the water with the ears under water at least 1/2 hour of this time. Most of us who spent time at our pools during our youth remember experiencing the frequent “glush” when we turned our head from side to side after a day at the pool. This annoyance continued long after we left the pool. We tried shaking our heads, pounding with our palms while holding our head on the side, resting our heads on warm stones, and Q-tips. Most of the time these things didn’t offer much relief.
The problem with water is its tendency to form little droplets due to its surface tension. Once in the ear, it is reluctant to come out. The obvious solution is to remove these droplets after leaving the pool, eliminating the breeding ground for ear problems.
Let me start by warning you away from Q-tip devices. They are not only dangerous if inserted too deeply but often remove too much of the natural protective coating in the canal (ear wax).
People used to use Hydrogen Peroxide to treat Swimmers Ear…DON’T!
When I coached a team years ago, we virtually eliminated “swimmers ear” as a problem. HERE’S WHAT WE DID AND IT WAS VERY SIMPLE. Principal: Breaking the surface tension of water allows water to escape the canal. Alcohol (91% isopropyl preferably) does the trick and does it very nicely. It makes water wetter and allows it to run freely. We purchased a bottle of alcohol and USP boric acid (it has anti-fungal properties). We mixed the boric acid in with the alcohol until it would hold no more in suspension (a saturated solution). We knew this when we could see boric acid crystals still on the bottom of the alcohol container. We poured some of the solution contents into a smaller ear dropper bottle…this was our “Swim Ear” solution. Every day parents would administer this ear canal drying solution to their children’s ears. This was done at the completion of practice and after a day’s swimming. Use three to five drops per ear with the head on the side, waiting until the little “glush” is heard indicating the solution has mixed with all the water. After turning the head over to drain the canal, a warm sensation was often felt as the solution drained. A trace amount of Boric acid is left behind, providing additional fungal protection. We did this for years and it worked. I have passed this information on to people from time to time and it still seems to work better than other things.
For obvious reasons you apply this information at your own risk. I will say that of the many hundreds of parents who have used this solution, I have NEVER heard of a problem associated with its application. If in doubt check with your doctor.
OK. That’s it. Remember, it’s easier to AVOID “Swimmers Ear” than to cure it. Pass these hints on to your other team parents and PLEASE TELL THEM ABOUT OUR PROGRAM.