Swimmers Ear!!!! Help

Hi P.!!
We just went through this about two weeks ago. If the child has true swimmer's ear, it is very painful, and cannot be treated with over the counter. You'll need to see a doctor, and get Rx drops made just for that problem.

Swimmer's ear is not an ear infection like you see with young children, and antibiotics will not clear it up.

Once it has been totally cleared up, you can PREVENT it from coming back with a homemade drop solution of: 1 part water, 1 part white vinegar, and 1 part rubbing alcohol. Use these drops as often as you like ... before and after swimming. Good luck to you all!

You can do 50/50 vinegar and alcohol and drop it in his ear. Vinegar kills bacteria and alcohol dries out the ear. If he is starting to show signs of ear infection, get garlic oil and put couple drops in it. I've used the garlic oil on my son and his fever and ear ache was gone in one day. My sister-in-law use these methods for her 3 sons all the time and she never needs to get them medicines. Hope this works for you. Good luck!

Have him hold his head over to one side and put a few drops of alcohol in it. Wait a few seconds and flip his head to the other side and the water should drain right out. If not then you might take him to the doctor, but alcohol usually does the trick.
Mom of a 12 yr old girl.

Hopefully, an infection has not set in yet. Last year my son got swimmers ear for the first time ever, and I put the drops in, but ended up at the doctors and he had the worst case his doctor has ever seen. He had it in both ears, and the dr. couldn't even see into his ear. Always use the drops as soon as he gets out of the pool. My son was in a lot of pain due to this. I will say this, bad enough he didn't swim the rest of the year. He said, he never wanted to get that again.

Poor little guy! It's so ironic that this topic has come up. I just finished reading an article about home remedies in my Parents magazine over the weekend. Their solution is to stand back a few feet and use a blow dryer on the WARM setting. They said that it typical will dry out the fluids unless it's a severe case of swimmers ear. In that case, your nephew would need to see a doctor. Good Luck!

Hi I don’t really know how wise this is, but I was told to use regular rubbing alcohol just a little on a q-tip, congrads on the new little one my daughter’s birthday is on dec. 23 she does quite well at Christmas!!

My kids are on the swim team and we put drops of equal parts mixture of white vinegar and rubbing alcohol. We haven't had a problem with their ears yet.

He will probably have to go to the Doctor. My son always got swimmer's ear until I started using drops to put in his ears after he swam. The drops helped prevent it. I get them at CVS, they are called Auro-Dri.I hope this helps!

I am not sure if he was just swimming today, that he has swimmers ear...it is a fungal infection and takes several days to show up. The best thing to do is to put a few drops of rubbing alcohol in the ears after every swim...this will dry out the excess water and prevent the fungus from growing in the damp, dark environment. As for actually treating it, I think you have to get drops from a Dr...at least I always did when I was growing up (on Virginia Beach).

There's a product out there called swimmers ear drops. It's just alcohol. A few drops of alcohol in each ear will dry all that moisture up.

There is a product to protect from swimmer's ear in the future. It is called swimmer's ear. It helps dry out the water in the ear from swimming.

I don't know how to get rid of swimmer's ear once a person has it (I would call/go to the doctor) -- but to prevent it, just put a drop or two of rubbing alcohol in each ear after every swim.

When I was younger, my sister went to summer camp, and it was standard procedure to line everyone up and put the drops of alcohol into everyone's ears.

Dear P.,

I used to be on a swim team and our coach would line us up as
soon as we were through with our workout and put drops in our
ears. It was a mixture of half apple cider vinegar and half
alcohol. I never did get an ear infection. When my children
were little I did the same thing with them but I used Swim Ear
that I bought at Wal-Mart. Luckily they never had problems either. Just make sure you put it in their ears as soon as they are through swimming. Good luck!

C.

I put about a quarter of a dropper of alcohol in my son's ears when he feels like he has water in his ears. I let it sit for a minute or two and then run out into a cotton ball. My son was prone to ear infections when he was younger and even had ear tubes. The alcohol keeps his ears clear. His pediatrician was surprised by how clear his ears were with all of the swimming he was doing

My parents always put rubbing alchol in our ears. Just a few drops from a cotton ball. I would call your peditrition before doing anything. Good luck.

I had a niece who suffered with chronic ear disease, keeping ear infections constantly. The doctor advised us to use a combination of apple cider vinegar and alcohol after swimming. He said the alcohol would help to dry up the water, and the vinegar would help to kill the bacteria.

Our dr recommended a solution of equal parts 1/2 vinegar 1/2 rubbing alcohol. Alcohol dries the ear out, vinegar keeps the bacteria from growing. Worked like a charm! I placed it in a squeeze bottle clearly labeled DO NOT DRINK swimmer's ear solution.

I think those types of things are more for prevention. A couple of drops of vinigar or rubbing alcohol in each ear will dry the water up. Drop it in and let it set for a min, then tip your head the other way and the rest should drain out. If infection has already set in, then the only thing I know to do is go to the dr and get antibiotics.

You use a 50/50 solution of vinigar and rubbing alcohol. I saw where one mom said vinigar and water, that's bad, the water is the problem. the alcohol dries the water in the ear. you use this in both ears after they are done swimming. If he already has swim ear you need to take him to the doctor and get him on antibiotics and numbing ear drops for the pain. My daughter has this problem often but as long as we use the "swimmers ear" soultion we can go the whole summer with no problems. You can also by the "swim ear" from the store but it is much more expensive than making it yourself

Jen

Try a few drops of alcohol in each ear immediately after swimming. There are also over the counter eardrops called Similasan Earache Relief that helps with pain. Good luck

make ear drops from 50% white vinegar and 50% isopropyl alcohol and put 4-5 drops in affected ear 3 times daily. Then always do the drops after swiming if child is prone to these infections. My grandmothers physician taught my mother this at a house call when I was a child, can you even imagine a doctor teaching you to make these in your own kitchen.

We also have a swimming pool. We knew of no cure except a trip to the doctor. However, we did start using swimmers ear after they got out of the pool. And if you look at the ingreients of swimmers ear, it is mostly alcohol. Swimmers ear drys the ear to prefect swimmers ear. You can also get swimmers ear taking a bath or shower.

Hello: Use a 1 to 1 ratio of white vinegaer and rubbing alcohol. I got this from my children's doc and he said every time they got out of the swim pool for the day I should put a drop or two in each ear and rub it around. My kids were getting swimmer's ear all the time (we swim pretty constantly) and since using this trick, we have had zero cases!

Most of the home remedies work. I suffered swimmers ear a lot as a child. We had a swimming pool in our backyard and I pretty much lived in it during the summer. Int order to prevent it, you need to make sure to keep the ear canal as dry as possible you can do this in several ways.

After swimming you can use a hair dryer on a low setting for a few minutes on each ear.

You can purchase the silicone ear plugs to prevent the water from getting in, in the first place, they are great as they form to the ear itself to create a good seal.

And there are several ear drops you can purchase that will dry up the ear canal fast when thee is water in it.

Keep in mind if your child is prone to swimmers ear he can get it from any water source and not just pools. He can get it from baths, hot tubs, etc...

Good luck!

A couple of drops of rubbing alcohol works great to. It will attach itself to the water then evaporate. Put a few drops in the ear leave head tilted for a few seconds, move the ear around a bit to make sure the alcohol gets down into the ear then lean over and there maybe a little drainage but it will dry up quickly. Worked for my kids for years and still works even for me and I am 48!

Dear P.,

We had a pool and had the same issue. One of our doctors said the best we could do is mix hydrogen peroxide and isopropyl alcohol 50-50 and put a few drops in each ear to ensure they were dried properly.

It saved many future trips to the doctor's office I am sure!

Thanks!

Deb

My father used to be a scuba diver, and he told me to put in a couple drops of rubbing alcohol in each ear, letting it mix in with the water that is already in the ear. Tip the head over allowing it to drain after a few seconds, and water and alcohol both will come out. Works with me every time.

Good luck!

Hi P.,

Just thought I'd let you know that my son has been done competitive swimming since he was 5yrs old and he would always get swimmers ear..I would always take him to the Doctor, he finally told me to put some alcohol drops in his ear, and also to get him to jump on the trampoline since we have one and that always did the trick, my son is now 10yrs old is has finally gotten past swimmers ear..I H. it works for you, I wish you Luck!
Blessings

My pediatrician recommended a mix of alcohol & vinegar to dry the ears out after water is in. Something like 2/1 mix.
I also use the over the counter homeopathic Simalisan ear drops for the pain...they works every bit as good as my Rx drops!
Good luck, poor baby!

Wow...I had this same issue last night. I think my daughter has been fighting an ear infection already (very mild, not to the point that she needed antibiotics. My doc does not like giving out antibiotics unless it is necessary. He would tell me that often kids can fight off ear infections on their own). Swimming aggravated it. I tried the rubbing alcohol and it did not work for us. Then, I diluted the vinegar 50/50 with water. It didn't work that well so I tried the lemon juice. I put 2/3 drops in her ear. With both, I told her to yawn which lets the liquid get deeper in the ear, then I had her lay down to let it drain. The lemon juice did help. I did it again this morning and will take her to the doc if it doesn't work. Sometimes you just can't get them into the doc soon enough and home remedies helps...good luck!!!

it's too early to tell if he has swimmers ear- that's an infection and it will take a few days. Go ahead and try some alchohol in the ears and that should dry it up. I've had swimmer's ear many times- my mom used to put swimmers ear or alcohol in my ears after baths and swimming and it helped.

S., mom to four girls

You seem to have received alot of good advice. If you don't have the swim ear drops, then try the alcohol first. Place a few drops 2-3 into his ear and that should help dry up or evaporate the water that is trapped in his ear.

My mom used to heat up alcohol in the microwave for just a few seconds. Be careful not to get it to hot. Just a couple of seconds should do. Then place a piece of cotton in the ear to kepp the alcohol in. I don't know how it helped but it did. They were normally gone the next day. Good luck!

You can buy a product called 'Swim Ear'. Put in a couple of drops and the trapped water is gone.