Categories: Diseases & Conditions

5 Ways I Reduced My Bouts of Swimmer’s Ear

As a child, I spent a lot of time swimming or engaging in other water related activities. Unfortunately for me, I also suffered from frequent bouts of swimmer’s ear. Because of that experience, I learned how to reduce my chances of contracting the ear infection. With that said, here’s five swimmer’s ear prevention techniques that you may want to consider discussing with your doctor:

1. Surfing Ear Plugs

When I first started using ear plugs to help reduce my chances of contracting swimmer’s ear, I hated using them for one simple reason. It made it hard to hear what was going on. As a kid who loved playing water sports, not being able to hear what was going on around me was a serious issue. Then I stumbled across surfing ear plugs. They differ from regular ear plugs in that they allow sound to reach your ears but not the water or the wind. Prices for surfing ear plugs vary greatly by brand. A pair can run you anywhere from $4 to over $200 but I think that they are worth it. You can typically purchase them online through specialty retailers.

2. Swimming Caps

Swimming caps were effective at reducing the amount of times I came down with a case of swimmer’s ear too. Unfortunately, I despised wearing them even more than I did the regular ear plugs. Part of my aversion to swimming caps was that my mother always bought me the ugliest ones available. They reminded me of those rubber bath mats with the grotesque daisies stuck to them. It wasn’t her fault. At the time that was all she could find. Thankfully, nowadays they make swimming caps a lot more aesthetically appealing. I have found really cute swimming caps online for $3 to $7 each. The other reason why I despised swimming caps was how hard they were to put on over my long hair. Plus the cap always gave me a bad case of static electricity once I removed it for the day. As time went on, I learned that lightly coating the inside of the swimming cap with baby powder before trying to pull it over my hair made it go on easier. It also helped to reduce static electricity caused by taking the swimming cap off. You might want to ask your doctor about that as well.

3. Head Tilt

I found that laying my head down on a beach towel after a swim also helped because it allowed the water to drain out of my ears. I would generally lie down on a pool chair, if one was available. It would typically take five minutes or less to drain each ear. If I was in a hurry, I’d sometimes also shake my head from side to side in order to speed up the draining process.

4. Vinegar Drops

One way to combat swimmer’s ear is to use ear drops after swimming. Personally, I preferred making my own by combining equal parts of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol together. Our family physician was the one who told us how to make the ear drops. However, I wouldn’t recommend putting anything in your ears until you’ve cleared it with your own doctor.

5. Hydrogen Peroxide

In addition to using the vinegar mixture, my doctor suggested that I also clean my ears using hydrogen peroxide, warm water and a syringe. Using the syringe was painful. It made me feel like my ear was going to explode. Instead, I preferred to lie down on my side and pour a small cap full of hydrogen peroxide in my ear and let it sit like that for a second or two before letting it drain out. The hydrogen peroxide helped to remove wax and other irritants that were contributing to my ear infections. Before trying it yourself, be sure to consult with your physician. Just because it was right for me, doesn’t me that it is right for you.

Killeen Gonzalez enjoys the great outdoors with her family. She suffered with swimmer’s ear as a child and has worked in health care as a social worker.