Swimmers Ear

You can use rubbing alcohol w/ an equal amount of white vinegar as drops after swimming. Go to web md.com and this should answer any and all health questions you may ever have.

50/50 vinegar and alcohol! I've actually treated swimmer's ear with it before. It wasn't a bad case though.

Hello M., my daughter gets swimmers ear EVERY summer! A great preventative is swim ear drops from walmart. She uses them every time she swims and showers. They have worked wonderful! Like I said though, they are only to prevent swimmers ear, to treat it you need antibiotics.

If you are TREATING swimmer's ear,you need prescription drops from your Pediatrician.If you are preventing it,you can put either a few drops of rubbing alcohol in the ears after swimming or "swimmers ear drops" they sell over the counter.

The best thing, and you probably already have it in your medicine cabinet-rubbing alcohol. Just a couple small drops in the ears and it will help dry up the excess water. I do suggest, however, if your child is prone to infection, get Willow/Garlic Ear oil as well (Herbs for Kids Brand). Put 3-5 drops in each ear and this will prevent/cure the ear infection. Hope this helps!

We use similasan ear drops, my kiddos love it, they say it provides immediate relief. It is all natural too, Sprouts has it and maybe walmart, I am not sure. Hope this helps. M.
www.m3vno.myarbonne.com

The vinegar and rubbing alchol was recomded by our pediatrician as well. I also have my son avoid swimming in hotubs, many peopel do not treat them well enough and any shallows pools like above gorunds can get a hgih bacteria count quickly as the water warms.

Melaleuca oil on a cotton ball and swab the ear...morning and night!

Good luck!!

Alcohol works too, but we use "swimmers ear" ear drops, always have, works well.

I don't know about treating it-you may want to call your doc, but PREVENTING it, I will agree with all the moms recommending rubbing alcohol. We put a folded washcloth on the counter, let the girls lay their head on it side ways, put a small capful of alcohol in their ear and have them hold it for just a few seconds, then turn their head and let it run out onto the washcloth and repeat with the other ear. It's extremely soothing to feel the excess water drain out. The alcohol dries up what's left.

I have no other treatment advise other than that you have already received. But I would advise seeing a doctor to make sure it is swimmers ear. We thought my daughter had it when she was 16 and tried treating it with OTC products. They were extremely painful so after a trip to the doctor we found she actually had an ear infection! I would hate anyone's child to go through that pain!

a few drops of rubbing alcohol after each session should help to prevent swimmer's ear, or there's an OTC product, i think it's called aerodri?

You have to go to the Dr. and get antibiotic ear drops. The over the counter are to prevent swimmers ear not cure it. It is dangerous and can cause permanent hearing loss.
N. Cox

I've used "swimmer's ear" drops my whole life to prevent them. My husband has always used the alcohol & vinegar combo (mentioned in another post). Both work equally well for prevention. As far as treating it, that usually requires a prescription.

I just had my first round of swimmer's ear ever this summer with my girls. I did not use anything over the counter, but did get prescription drops. It is extremely painful. I did give my daugther motrine, too, to combat the pain. You can buy preventative drops over the counter, or our doctor suggested mixing equal parts of vinegar and alcohol and putting it in a small squirt bottle and putting a few drops in their ears each time they swim. He did caution us to stay out of the water until they were healed up, and not to use any sort of preventative until their ears were well again. Good luck!
A.

I swam competitively for many years and have spent many hours underwater scuba diving, and found that the easiest solution is also the best - towel off her head and ears as soon as she gets out of the water! Also, have her tilt her head to the side and shake it to help the water drip out - it looks goofy, but it does help. If she can still "feel" water in her ear canal after that, have her lay on her side for a few minutes (with the plugged ear closer to the ground) after you get home. If she wears a latex or silicone swim cap in the water, make sure that her ears openings are not covered to help prevent water from getting trapped.

First, go to the doc to make sure there isn't any current infections.

Next, as a preventative measure, mix 1/2 rubbing alcohol and 1/2 vinegar (equal parts) into a container such those plastic squirt ketchup/mustard bottles (like the kind you would see at a hotdog stand) that you can pick up at any cooking section. Squirt that in the ears everytime they come out of the pool to prevent swimmers ear. I'm a once lifeguard and swimming instructor (and a pool in our own backyard) and we did that back in my instructing days and I do it now with my kiddos and haven't had any problems.

I don't know what the best product is but Dr. J.R. Williams at UT Southwetstern Medical Center is an excellent ENT if you need one.

Hi -you can got to www.childrens.com-they have some good information on swimmer's ear.

I work for pediatricians and this is what we tell our patients to PREVENT swimmers ear:
USe a misture of 1/2 rubbing alcohol and 1/2 white vvinegar to clean out he thears each day after swimming
***do not use with tubes

Have them jump up and down while shakeing head from side to side when possible and at least after they swim!
Yes, I know it sounds funny but I bet it will help if not prevent it when done after each swim! It has to be on a hard solid surface and really good high jumping until they feel the water drain out the ear's! If you can try to use a q-tip to soak up what drain's out but you don't have to or need to use it for actually getting it to drain! No force needed plus we all know not to go deep!
This is not a joke, try it!

To prevent it you can use alcohol and vinegar, but to treat it you must go to the doctor, it can cause hearing loss if it goes on too long.

A few drops of rubbing alcohol in each ear after each session should do the trick.

I've read (but thankfully have never had to deal with swimmer's ear) that after they get out of the water, use a blow dryer on their ears for 5 minutes. Of course, use the coolest setting. I guess this actually dries it up inside so "stuff" can't grow.

I have never been able to successfully treat swimmer's ear with OTC stuff, I found it just prolonged my suffering, it has always taken Cipro drops for myself and my daughter.