Summer is here. The flowers are starting to bloom. Warm breezes, sunshine, and hopefully some fun days in the pool or at the beach are in your future. When we think of summer time, nothing's more appealing to most than the thought of a nice cool dip in the water during the lazy hot days of summer. It's hard to beat a leisurely float in the pool while the little ones play and splash to their hearts content. That is, until those days are ruined by the dreaded ear infection known as "Swimmer's Ear".
This nasty little ear infection is known by the medical community as "Otitis Externa". It's more commonly known as "Swimmer's Ear" as it tends to occur most frequently to those who expose their ears to water or moisture on a regular and/or frequent basis. The ear canal is an ideal breeding environment for fungus and so when moisture enters the ear canal (which is dark and warm) you risk the potential of this "summer ruining" infection. Of course it will only ruin your summer if you don't know what is happening and/or how to treat and prevent it.
If you or your little ones have been spending some extra time in the water and are experiencing sensitive, red, itchy, swollen, outer ears, the culprit might be a swimmer's ear infection. This typically requires a trip to your doctor for treatment. You can take your chances and risk infection and then deal with the discomfort, inconvenience and cost of having to trudge off to the doctor's office for antibiotic treatments or you can take simple measures to help prevent this situation from ruining your summer fun.
Since swimmer's ear is most commonly cause by excessive water in the ear canal, with a few easy precautions, one can easily help prevent this infection from occurring. The simplest method to help prevent ear infections is to...you guessed it...keep the water out of your ears. But how do I do that while swimming you ask? The solution is simple...get yourself a high quality set of waterproof ear plugs.
Doctors recommend moldable silicone ear plugs or pre-molded flanged earplugs for keeping the water out and thus warding off infections. Kids are the most prone to swimmer's ear infections due to the fact that their small ear canals tend to hold the water more easily than larger adult ear canals. Kid's ears take longer to dry and become infected from bathing and swimming quite often (without preventative measures). Some doctors will make custom molded earplugs for their patients, but they are typically much more expensive than over-the-counter ear plugs for swimming and must be re-fitted often for growing kids. Adults' ears should be re-fitted for custom molded earplugs as their ears grow and change, although this is not necessary as often as it is with growing kids. Moldable silicone and flanged style earplugs will form a seal on par or better than custom molded ear plugs for a fraction of the cost of custom plugs.
Another preventative method for swimmer's ear is through the use of an electronic ear dryer. An average hair dryer can also be used for drying the ears, but an ear, nose, and throat doctor specifically designed the electronic ear dryer for this purpose. The difference is that this unique ear health device offers safe and controlled temperature, portability, controlled air pressure, and controlled noise level. This makes drying the ear after water exposure simple, easy, safe and convenient. Because the ear dryer is portable, little kids and adults can keep them handy for use around the pool, boat, or on-the-go for use at the gym after a training swim.
Yet another preventative method for keeping the summer fun going around the pool or beach is some handy ear drying drops. If you just don't care for earplugs or aren't ready to invest in an ear dryer, ear drying drops might be the solution for you. These ear drops contain isopropyl alcohol and a bit of special moisturizer to dry excessive moisture from the outer ear canal while keeping the lining of the ear canal in a "conditioned" state to help prevent infections.
Whether you are a pool lounger, kayaker, Olympic swimmer, surfer, scuba diver, or "splash fighter", the solutions mentioned above are sure to keep your ears in good healthy shape and help keep your summer fun and relaxing. Keep the water in the pool and out of your ears and you'll have a much more enjoyable and healthy summer.
This nasty little ear infection is known by the medical community as "Otitis Externa". It's more commonly known as "Swimmer's Ear" as it tends to occur most frequently to those who expose their ears to water or moisture on a regular and/or frequent basis. The ear canal is an ideal breeding environment for fungus and so when moisture enters the ear canal (which is dark and warm) you risk the potential of this "summer ruining" infection. Of course it will only ruin your summer if you don't know what is happening and/or how to treat and prevent it.
If you or your little ones have been spending some extra time in the water and are experiencing sensitive, red, itchy, swollen, outer ears, the culprit might be a swimmer's ear infection. This typically requires a trip to your doctor for treatment. You can take your chances and risk infection and then deal with the discomfort, inconvenience and cost of having to trudge off to the doctor's office for antibiotic treatments or you can take simple measures to help prevent this situation from ruining your summer fun.
Since swimmer's ear is most commonly cause by excessive water in the ear canal, with a few easy precautions, one can easily help prevent this infection from occurring. The simplest method to help prevent ear infections is to...you guessed it...keep the water out of your ears. But how do I do that while swimming you ask? The solution is simple...get yourself a high quality set of waterproof ear plugs.
Doctors recommend moldable silicone ear plugs or pre-molded flanged earplugs for keeping the water out and thus warding off infections. Kids are the most prone to swimmer's ear infections due to the fact that their small ear canals tend to hold the water more easily than larger adult ear canals. Kid's ears take longer to dry and become infected from bathing and swimming quite often (without preventative measures). Some doctors will make custom molded earplugs for their patients, but they are typically much more expensive than over-the-counter ear plugs for swimming and must be re-fitted often for growing kids. Adults' ears should be re-fitted for custom molded earplugs as their ears grow and change, although this is not necessary as often as it is with growing kids. Moldable silicone and flanged style earplugs will form a seal on par or better than custom molded ear plugs for a fraction of the cost of custom plugs.
Another preventative method for swimmer's ear is through the use of an electronic ear dryer. An average hair dryer can also be used for drying the ears, but an ear, nose, and throat doctor specifically designed the electronic ear dryer for this purpose. The difference is that this unique ear health device offers safe and controlled temperature, portability, controlled air pressure, and controlled noise level. This makes drying the ear after water exposure simple, easy, safe and convenient. Because the ear dryer is portable, little kids and adults can keep them handy for use around the pool, boat, or on-the-go for use at the gym after a training swim.
Yet another preventative method for keeping the summer fun going around the pool or beach is some handy ear drying drops. If you just don't care for earplugs or aren't ready to invest in an ear dryer, ear drying drops might be the solution for you. These ear drops contain isopropyl alcohol and a bit of special moisturizer to dry excessive moisture from the outer ear canal while keeping the lining of the ear canal in a "conditioned" state to help prevent infections.
Whether you are a pool lounger, kayaker, Olympic swimmer, surfer, scuba diver, or "splash fighter", the solutions mentioned above are sure to keep your ears in good healthy shape and help keep your summer fun and relaxing. Keep the water in the pool and out of your ears and you'll have a much more enjoyable and healthy summer.
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