Advice by Pediatric Conditions: Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s ear infections (infections of the outer ear canal) are the most common ear infections in older (over 9 years of age) children. They usually, but do not necessarily, occur after water has been in the ear canal for several hours. Therefore, they are most common in anyone that’s exposing their ears to water for several hours per day.
How Can You Tell If Your Child Has A Swimmer’s Ear Infection?
Swimmer’s ear infection does not cause fever and pulling on the ear lobe and causes significant pain. Usually a child with a swimmer’s ear infection will do more than say, yes that hurts when you do gently pull and tug. Normally, they will wince and show pain in their face. Children that say it hurts to touch or pull their ear, but do not evidence any pain on their face usually do not have a swimmer’s ear.
How Do You Treat Swimmer’s Ear?
You can buy (prescription) antibiotic drops or make your own drops. To make your own, mix vinegar (most people prefer white because it is less odorous) with water (50-50). The drops (prescription or home-made) can be put directed into the ear canal, but treatment is more effective if you use a cotton ball to make a wick. To make a wick, pull a cotton ball in half and twirl the wisps of cotton into a strand (or wick) that’s about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in length. Then thread the wick into the affected ear canal and tuck the attached cotton ball into the outside (pinna) of the ear. Put the ear drops onto the cotton ball every few hours for about 2 days or until all pain is gone.
It’s not necessary to warm the drops, but it is a nice thing to do. It’s much more comfortable having warm drops put into your ear than having room temperature or cool drops put into your ear.
Complications
The most common and worrisome complication is spread of the infection to the bone behind the ear – mastoiditis. This is marked by pain over that bone and the outside ear (pinna) protruding away from the head. If you think your child might have this problem, your child needs to be seen by the doctor.
How Can You Prevent Swimmer's Ear Infections?
First, drying the ear canals after prolonged exposure to water will prevent most swimmer’s ear problems. (Water that gets into the ears from bathing and showering and swimming for less than 1 hour rarely would lead to swimmer’s ear infection, so it’s not necessary to do anything special to dry ear canals in these situations.) Drying the ear canals can be done by leaning to the side and pulling on the outside of the ear or with medicine. You can buy (over-the-counter) preventive medicine or make your own with rubbing alcohol and water mixed 50-50.