Swimmer's Ear
  Contributed by: Lindsey Gordon, Pharm.D. Candidate
                        UMKC School of Pharmacy

It's that time of year again - it's hot out, the kids are done with school, and they are ready to spend their days at the swimming pool to stay cool.  Sounds like fun, right?  For most it is, but for some it's what happens after that day at the pool that causes a problem … Swimmer's Ear! 

Swimmer's ear, also known as water-clogged ears or external otitis, can happen after swimming, but also after bathing or sweating a lot.  It occurs when the healthy environment of the ear is disturbed by water, cleaning with a cotton swab, or scratching. Some signs and symptoms that you or your child may have swimmer's ear may include a feeling of wetness or fullness in the ear or even some hearing loss.  Eventually this can lead to itching, pain, inflammation, and even infection of the outer ear.  One way to tell if it's swimmer's ear is to move the ear up and down.  If this causes pain, then it's probably swimmer's ear, not a middle ear infection (usually seen in the cold weather months).

So what should you do if you or your child have swimmer's ear? 

You want to dry the ear out and prevent this from happening again, so first try tilting the affected ear downward and gently pulling or moving the upper part of the ear.  This may remove some of the excessive water from the ear.  To help dry the ear canal, you may try using the blow-dryer on a low setting around the ear, but do not blow it directly into the ear.  These techniques should be done after swimming or bathing.

If pulling on the ear or blow-drying the ear has not worked, you may go to your local Hen House and look for products containing isopropyl alcohol 95% in anhydrous glycerin 5%  (Swim Ear Drops). The isopropyl alcohol help dry the ear out and is disinfectant while the anhydrous glycerin decreases the moisture in the ear without over-drying it.  Some products you may see on the shelf might have boric acid included in them (Dri Ear).  These should only be applied to unbroken skin because they may be poisonous if they are taken into the body through an open wound.  You may also take acetaminophen or ibuprofen to control the pain of the ear infection.

If ear drops don't helps after several days of continuous use then go to your doctor.  You should also go to the doctor if you or your child have signs of infection, pain with discharge, bleeding from the ear, recent ear surgery, tympanostomy tubes present, or are <12 years old.

For more information ask your pharmacist or physician.