SWIMMER’S EAR

Children get it frequently. So do dogs that splash in ponds and lakes. Even taking a dip in the neighborhood pool can get the stage for a painful and occasionally serious infection called swimmer’s ear.

Swimmer’s ear, or external otitis, occurs when bacteria or other organisms that live in water take up residence inside your ear. The warm, moist environment is entirely to their liking, and sometimes they’ll thrive, causing a painful infection. Incidentally, you don’t have to swim to get swimmer’s ear. Anything that causes the insides of the ears to get moist – taking a shower, wearing a hearing aid, or even having too much earwax can make it easy for the organisms to flourish.

It’s usually not that difficult to stop swimmer’s ear in its tracks. Here are a few things to try.

Start with a kitchen cure. Research has shown that garlic can kill a variety of germs, including those that can cause swimmer’s ear. When your ears start aching, squeeze a clove of garlic into a little bit of olive oil and apply a few drops to your ears. There’s a good chance this will kill the germs before they have time to cause a full-blown infection.

Add some vinegar. Another way to help kill germs in the ear is with a few drops of white vinegar mixed half-and-half with rubbing alcohol. Put the drops in your ears, then tilt your head to let the fluid run out. This can be very helpful, but the rubbing alcohol may be painful if your ears are irritated. An alternative is to mix the vinegar with a few drops of water.

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WHEN TO SEE THE DOCTOR
You can often treat swimmer’s ear at home, but if the infection doesn’t go
away or starts getting worse you need to call your doctor. Some symptoms to
watch for are a lot of pain and discharge from the ear. Your doctor probably
will give you a prescription for antibiotics, which will cure most ear
infections within two weeks.
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Dry your ears. Because the germs that promote swimmer’s ear thrive in moisture, you can make your ears less hospitable simply by drying them out. After swimming, tilt your head to the side and pull on your ear to let the water run out. Then put in a few drops of rubbing alcohol, which will act as a drying agent.