Swimmers ear

[David]

Originally Posted by Aquatic Mammal

I was using that stuff until my ENT surgeon said "do not put anything in your ears" but I'd think a little squirt of "Ear Calm" in the evening might just keep the bacteria down (after rinsing with drinking water of course.

For shallow pool work swimmers ear plugs should be OK just to keep your ears totally dry although I have such narrow ear canals that I ended up with childrens size plugs and couldn't even keep those in my ears!

I use swim ear, diving with an ENT surgeon telling me not to put anything in my ears guess who could not dive for three days in Sipadan ?

he did claim that oliveoil and 5% white vinagar would kill anything growing in your ear, but it did not seem to work for him :-(

David

[GlennFord]

I use a mixture of 50% white vinegar and 50% rubbing alcohol. Here are a couple of useful articles from DAN on the subject.
DAN Divers Alert Network : Can You Prevent Otitis Externa, or Swimmers Ear?
DAN Divers Alert Network : More On Swimmers Ear

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by ardhill

Do those drops for swim ear not help stop this? Or maybe any ear oil?

I dunno, I am just asking.

The swim ear works for me, I use it after diving or swimming and haven't had an ear problem in that time. Before using it I had them regularly.

Safe diving,
Steve

[Gene_Hobbs]

Originally Posted by GlennFord

I use a mixture of 50% white vinegar and 50% rubbing alcohol. Here are a couple of useful articles from DAN on the subject.
DAN Divers Alert Network : Can You Prevent Otitis Externa, or Swimmers Ear?
DAN Divers Alert Network : More On Swimmers Ear

There was an article in the most recent 'Alert Diver' issue but I have not seen it online yet. DocVikingo recommended a 33-33-33 of alcohol-white vinegar-distilled water (I use 70% Isopropyl alcohol and white vinegar to come close to this enough for me when mixed 50-50).

This was the first report on ear care by Ed when he was at NEDU.
A Prophylactic Program for the Prevention of Otitis Externa in Saturation Divers.
Thalmann, 1974
RRR ID: 3372

and another on Otic Domeboro:
In vitro efficacy of Otic Domeboro against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Dibb, 1985
RRR ID: 3012

[lucybuykx]

Think I'll invest in some Aqua-ear again. I swim in a great pool (Ponds Forge in Sheffield) but do get a sore ear sometimes.

[ScubaKing]

Hi Guys
I would check with your ENT doc before deciding on the best way to prevent the problem. I used to get lot’s of ear infections and it turned out to be due to a mild eczema in my ear. The only way to carry on diving was to use a pro ear mask and keep my ears dry.
Pouring acetic acid and other concoctions into your ears may kill the bacteria but it could also aggravate other conditions. A good tip is to use olive oil before a dive as it’s not too acidic and repulses the water out. A quick cheap earplug suitable for diving can be made by covering a ball of cotton wool with petroleum jelly and that works quite well especially with a hood. Ultimately it’s only the wax that is stopping infection in your ear, so as hard as it is, stay off the cotton buds.

Cheers

Richie
Scuba Kings Gozo, PADI Dive Centre, Diving Holidays Gozo, Malta, Europe

[mythic]

I work as a commertial diver both doing helecopter crash training for the offshore industry in a swimming pool and for the inland fishfarm industry. I used to suffer a huge amount as both invironments were full of nasty bugs one in 3 dives i would develop ear problems and the same went for other divers the swimming pool being the worst. However the white vinagar treatment really worked for me and noone could smell the vinagar over the stench of fish


now if i could only find a non destructive fish stench remover then life would be complete