Introduction:
Swimming is a good exercise for persons who wants to be fit in any disciplines of life. In fact it is a very useful life skill. But you have to be very careful while swimming in the water as water can go in your ears which can affect your hearing capacity. As our ears are open for water to come inside, we have to take proper measures to protect our ears.
How to protect ears from water:
There are many safety measures, which can be taken by swimmers before they go inside the waters.
- Keep your ears clean and dry because if your ears are wet or dirty ,they are more vulnerable to the water as with the water all those dirty particles can go inside your ear which can affect your ear.
- Keep your ear wax in proper hygiene so that water can not resides in your ear easily.
- Wear earplugs while swimming as it the proper safety measure to protect your ears from water. These earplugs can protect the ear from inside from the water. It acts as a shield for our ears in the water.
- Wear Swimming ear-band which completely covers your ear from water.
- Use swim-caps which are also comes as a waterproof seal for the ears.
- Use ear drops to secure your ears from water as these drops can counter the water to resides outside your ear.
- Just shake your head after swimming so that any water which resides in the ear can go out.
The diseases in ear while doing activity in the water:-
- Swimmer’s ear (Otitis externa):- This condition occurs when some water resists in your ear after a certain water activity. This water then begins to create bacteria in our ear ,as a result of this an infection occurs in our ear. We need to go to a doctor to get antibiotics to stop infection.
- Surfer’s ear:- This condition occurs when you do cold water activity such as kayaking, sailing, surfing etc in the cold water or in cold conditions. This condition occurs if you are exposed to cold windy environment. In this condition, The bone near the ear canal grows which causes blockage to ear canal.
- Barotrauma:- This condition occurs when the divers go deep in the water. In the deep waters, water pressure is so high that you can feel significant pain in your ear. This can affect your eardrum.
# Note that the first condition can remain, even after you complete your water activity unless you dry your ears properly by a clean towel or cloth.
Early symptoms of Swimmer’s ear, surfer’s ear and barotrauma include:-
- You can feel itching in the ear canal after swimming.
- Slightly redness of the ear.
- Drainage of fluid.
- Decrease of hearing capacity, temporary.
- Increase in ear pain.
- Difficulty for the ear to clear the debris automatically
- Feeling pressure in the air
- Dizziness
- Ringing in your ears
- Blocked years
When to get treated by a doctor:
Ear disease from swimming is very common for regular swimmers. Swimmers must consult to a ear specialist if they feel any affect in their hearing capacity, in fact they should regularly check their ears . Whereas for non regular swimmers it is also recommended to check their ears from a doctor before to go out for water activity.