It’s all fun and games in the pool until someone develops swimmer’s ear. When kids spend nearly all summer in the pool, it is important to do everything you can to prevent swimmer’s ear because no one wants summer fun to be interrupted by pain.
In partnership with Florida Hospital for Children’s Kids Urgent Care, I received tips from the professionals to help your kids stay swimmer’s ear free this summer. Go ahead, let them swim all day. Just remember a few basic tips to prevent the dreaded swimmer’s ear pain.
What Is Swimmer’s Ear?
Swimmer’s ear is an infection of the outer ear canal that can occur after water is trapped in the ear canal, giving bacteria found in pool water the perfect environment to grow. In addition to being painful, swimmer’s ear can also be itchy, lead to a pus discharge and give kids a feeling of fullness inside the ear. A combo that leads to unhappy kids.
One of the telltale signs of swimmer’s ear is pain/discomfort that is made worse when pulling on the ear. As a kid whenever anyone complained of an earache, the first thing mom did was gently tug our earlobes. If the pain got worse, it was straight to the doctor for antibiotics.
How To Prevent Swimmer’s Ear
While swimmer’s ear is easily treated with antibiotics, it is best to practice prevention. The key to prevention is to dry out the ear well after swimming.
After swimming make sure there is no water left in the ear — My mom taught us to stand on one foot and hop with our head tipped to the side to help make sure any water in our ear drained. You can also help your child to gently pull their earlobes in different directions (while leaning over) to let excess water drain out.
Make sure your water is clean — If you own your own pool it is important to regularly check disinfectant and pH levels using pool test strips. Pools with a balanced pH and disinfectant level are less likely to spread germs.
If you swim at a public pool, ask the pool operator if the disinfectant and pH levels of the pool are checked at least twice a day.
Keep ears dry while swimming – If your child has trouble with water in their ears or has experienced multiple rounds of swimmer’s ear, have them wear a swim cap or ear plugs to keep their ears dry.
Ear drying drops – Over-the-counter drying drops can also help kids get water out of their ears. Or you can make your own drops with a 1:1 mixture of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. Drip a couple of drops into your child’s ear after swimming then drain. The vinegar and alcohol help kill bacteria and dry out the ear.
Drops should never be used if there is an ear drum rupture, be sure to talk to your doctor about any concerns.
Don’t stick things in your ear – Never stick anything in your ear like a cotton swab that could potentially do more damage or push the water further into the ear.
In the event prevention doesn’t work, the good news is that swimmer’s ear is easily treated. Kids Urgent Care regularly treats kids with swimmer’s ear and can help your swimmer be back in the pool in no time. If your child is experiencing the above symptoms and might have swimmer’s ear, visit a local healthcare provider like Kids Urgent Care for treatment and get back to enjoying a pain-free summer.
shelly peterson says
Thanks for the great tis on preventing simmers ear. I didn’t knw you could buy drying drops.
jessica c says
I make sure I us q tips after swimming. seems to help
Mami2jcn says
These are great tips for summer!
Elena says
Great tips! Thanks for sharing
Janet W. says
These are all great tips! My grandson has tubes in his ears so we have to be extra careful about him not getting much water in his ear when at the pool or taking a bath.
Karen Glatt says
Very good information on making sure to get water out of the ear after swimming. I make sure to get our water out of our ears after swimming and I like your home remedy to help make sure the water is out of the ear.
Natalie says
I had no idea that you could actually prevent this! Great advice, especially for summer.
Brenda Haines says
Thanks for the tips, I remember my oldest niece having swimmers ear a lot.
Maria C. says
This is a very helpful post. Thank you for sharing. Don’t have much knowledge about swimmer’s ear. Will be very useful.
Barbara says
We have used the ear drying drops in the past! Great to prevent swimmers ear!!!!
sandra says
Great tips
Sarah Hayes says
thank you so much for these tips. I’m always afraid this will happen to one of the kids
Laurajj says
Oh these are all such great tips. Having a pool, we swim almost daily during the summer. I didnt know they had ear drying drop! I will have to make sure he does the ear draining when getting out of the pool!
Aisha says
This is such a great idea! I didn’t think about this for my kids. I should talk to them about it. Thanks for sharing.
Cheryl says
I never had swimmer’s ear. It sound like a horrible malady, especially for young children.
Rebecca B says
The only thing that ever helps swimmer’s ear for us is hydrogen peroxide, but that’s only after the fact. Thanks for the preventative measures!
Birdiebee says
Thank you for the great tips as my grandkids will be swimming all summer long. I had not heard about the Over-the-counter drying drops until reading your post. Very informative.
Dana Rodriguez says
These are great tips. I had this once when I was a kid and it is no fun!
Holly Thomas says
My husband gets swimmers ear , I will show him these tips.