Swimmers Ear

[sbillingsley]

Half the kids who swam over the holiday now have swimmers ear...so it is the pool that is causing it. Any ideas of what is the key to stopping any more sick kids? Had water tested yesterday dont have exact numbers with me but chlorine was a little low, alk was way low and ph was a little low (pool company doesnt test CYA). Still waiting on my kit to start testing myself. Thanks for any info.

[Rangeball]

http://www.poolsolutions.com/gd/swimear.html

[sunofthebeach]

It seems to me that water that is not balanced make a person more prone to swimmers ear. Leaving water in your ears definitely contributes to swimmers ear

I got a tip from this site and use it every time I go swimming.

I have rubbing alcohol in a squeeze bottle and when we are done swimming we squirt a little in each ear. The rubbing alcohol mixes with the water left in your ear and evaporates. I have had no cases of swimmers ear since using this method.

Also knowing your CYA is really important. I would get my water tested at a new place if they did not test CYA. Or buy a good kit and test it yourself.

[cleancloths]

I too have gotten this from my pool. The symptoms I had were pressure in the ear, headache, dizyness and problems hearing from that ear. I went to the doctor and the ailment was physical not viral or bacterial. It turns out that in going under water, water and earwax became lodged in the ear and the trapped water was causing the pressure. The doctor just took a squeeze bulb of hot water and irregated the ear and when the "crap" came out all the symptoms were gone. I had this happen again yesterday, and just used to hot water irregation method myself to "Cure" the problem in about 5 minutes.

[CarlD]

yep, hot liquid and alcohol is good for swimmer's ear...in the ear--you don't drink it!

I frequently use wax or custom fitted ear plugs, especially when I'm swimming laps as that ALWAYS gets water in my ears.