Ear infection from the pool?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Water_man

Water_man

0
LifeTime Supporter
Jun 7, 2008
390
Brookline, MA
Lucky me - the weather is finally nice (give or take) but I got today a painful ear infection. Antibiotics and pain killers aren't working so far. When I swim I deep my head in, and also dive.
Does anybody know if the pool has anything to do with it?
Has anybody been infected and what was the treatment?
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't expect you to give me a medical advice. I just want you to share your experience and knowledge for educational purposes.
 
Are you asking if it's swimmers ear? What'd the doc say? There is a page on swimmers ear at poolforum.com
I treated my similar sounding problem with vinegar and alcohol after googling. Wasn't as painful as yours sounds though. The main thing is to make sure you don't have water stuck in your ears. You can blow dry your ears after getting out or use commercially available drops or use the 50:50 mixture I spoke of above which is the same thing as the commercial drops I believe.
 
Really there is no saying if it had to do with the pool. It is possible to get ear infections from pools that are not properly sanitized. It is also possible to get ear infections just because there is more water in your ear than usual. It is also possible to get ear infections for reasons that have nothing at all to do with the swimming pool.
 
I had to stop diving and use ear plugs for my infections when head is in water. treat with starotic or something after water gets in there. I use cypro(antibiotic) in my ears when they get that bad.
 
You can have swimmers ear, which is an infection on the outer ear canal, and this is different from an inner-ear infection, which is usually caused by a virus or bacteria and related to the sinuses.

My daughter is prone to swimmers ear, probably because of the way her canal is shaped traps water. If she turns her head to the side and tugs on the ear, the water usually can get out - but sometimes we've had to use a drop of rubbing alcohol, and that does the trick without any problems for her...others may experience irritation.

Once you have swimmers ear, you need med from the doctor - special ear drops, which is different from an inner ear infection where you would get oral antibiotics.

But swimmers ear and an inner ear infection feel quite different so you have to determine which one it is.
 
I got a couple different kinds when I had my problem about a month ago. one was silicone and one was kind of a plug type. they both sucked, but they're the only ones the local pool stores carried. there's another one close by I haven't visited yet, but I would like to try the second type fpm linked to.
 
Just read Ben Powell's page on swimmer's ear.
It mentions that even a well sanitized pool may still have bacteria. Here's a quote: "some of the causative organisms (esp., some varieties of Psuedomonas) are quite resistant to most pool sanitizers."

This means that under normal FC levels as per the CYA/FC chart our pools aren't 100% sanitized. Maybe this further implies that if someone needs to have a bacteria-free pool one has to shock every week or so even if CC is less than 0.5.
 
yeah that's the page I was referring to. the thing is, as far as I understand from what I've read lately, the bacteria is in your ear already. the wet environment by not drying your ears out completely allow it to multiply. this is why vinegar/alcohol is recommended, or just completely drying your ear. you can get swimmer's ear from the shower or some other water source besides a pool. here's another option I was considering:
http://www.dryear.net/
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
reebok said:
btw, I didn't mean to imply that pools aren't sinister and evil. see below for proof.
http://failblog.files.wordpress.com/200 ... =431&h=634
Click to expand...

LOL.. This story has circulated around the world.
You can see funny remarks from Poles in Polish Forums.
I wonder, if the girl is not a virgin, will they blame the water currents coming from the returns? I also wonder if the skimmer or the drain can suck out some brain cells.
 
Went to an ear specialist and everything I read here is right, including the Cipro AB as treatment, and rinsing the ears with isopropanol - vinegar after swimming.
Here's a tip that wasn't mentioned here: If you do have a tendency to suffer from swimmer's ear, go to an ear doc before the season starts and have your ears cleaned of wax.
 
It's been 2-3 days of intense pain on and off and it may be over soon when the Cipro AB does it job, and meanwhile I've become an expert on anti pain meds and maybe this can help others if and when they need it.
Docs can't predict which pain killer would help you - it's trial and error. So far the most effective pain killer has been 600 mg ibuprofen. Take it every 4 hours even if you don't have pain because the pain may kick in any minute after the 4 hour period is over. Heavy duty narcs aren't guaranteed to help. Maybe percoset does, I'll know better pretty soon. Most importantly - go to the ear specialist right away, don't spend any minute with the general health physician.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply