I am writing about my son, James. He is almost 18 months old. He woke up Friday morning with a lot of dried blood in his right ear and dried blood on his right index finger. I took him to the doctor. She could not see his ear drum (due to wax) but said it might be perforated because the blood went further back than his finger could have gone. She also noticed that both ears had Swimmer's Ear (external ear infection). She gave us a prescription for oral antibiotics (for possible middle ear infection)and antibiotic ear drops (for external ear infection). She also told us to keep his ears dry. Well, James loves to play in pools and in the bath. He does dunk his head under the water from the faucet and also sometimes he dunks his head in the bath water or pool water. The doctor said to put vasoline on a cotton ball and put the cotton ball in his ear to help keep it dry. I was wondering if there was anything I could buy to help keep his ears dry. I am thinking the cotton ball idea may not work well enough.
Does anyone have any suggestions to help keep his ears dry so he does not get Swimmer's Ear again? I really appreciate your response. Thank you very much!!
Hi L.,
I used to work in a home for developmentally disabled adults and lots of them had ear problems. We used to use some soft moldable silicone earplugs for bathing and they seemed to work pretty good. You can work them into shape to cover the ear canal. They are reusable until they get yucky. We used to just buy them at the pharmacy and you can order them online (just do a google search for "silicone earplugs").
Good Luck,
M.
My 11 year old daughter just had an ear infection, and she loves to swim. She had to keep her ears dry, only for a week the medicine worked well. We had to wash her hair in a way that her ears would not get wet.
I asked the doctor about ear plugs, for the future, and he said they don't really help. During the healing phase, the medications pushed a lot of the gunk (sand from the lake) out of her ears and by putting any plugs in her ear would obstruct that. The doctor did suggest Star Otic drops for the future, to use after she goes swimming/gets her ears wet. They don't require a prescription.
My 10 year old daughter has gotten swimmers ear a lot in the past two years. Now we use the commercial drops for swimmers ear when she goes to bed in the ear that gets bothered, after swimming. We also took the advice of our nurse practitioner friend and we use a hair dryer to dry her ear after swimming and showering. The hair dryer has worked wonders. If we do it each time, she doesn't get sore ears. When we forget the next day her ear hurts. There is a home recipe to make the drops, but i am not sure what it is. I bought ear plugs, but she complained that she can't hear anything with them in, so she won't wear them. I don't know how little you can find the ear plugs, but they mold to the ear, your son might not mind them. good luck, ear aches hurt!
Call your local Ear, Nose and Throat doctors office and ask if their office sells Doc's Proplugs. They are inexpensive earplugs that come in 8 different sizes. They float, so they are not lost in the pool or tub. They keep the water out. My daughter is on her second set of ear tubes and we use these earplugs when ever she is around water.
Dear L.
When my Daughter was this age she had tubes put in her ears and was not to get her ears wet so the Dr. told me to use wax ear plugs (I bought them at the drug store)all you do is mold it to soften it and put it into the ear not down in the ear but just right in the ear and mold it to the ear it worked really well when she went swimming, and bathing I did not have to worry about water in the ear. I was wondering if the Dr. found alot of wax in your childs ear why didnt she take it out?
Hi L.,
I have 2 children and one has hearing loss. My 7 year old (without hearing loss) had tubes put in right before summer last year. We went to our Audiologists office (right next door to our ENT) and had ear plugs made for her - similar to the ear molds that my son has for his hearing aids. It was a fun experience for her and she was able to pick out a cool pink and purple swirl pattern. They were a snug fit in her ears and did the trick in the pool and bath. I think they were $60.
She HATED the bright orange squishy material that you can buy at Target/Walmart, etc. It was just hard enough that it hurt her somewhat to get a good seal as you were cramming it into her ears.
Good Luck!
M.
Try Mack's silocone ear plugs. They are made to cover the outer ear hole and not allow water in. You roll them into a ball and press them to the shape of the ear. They work great, are inexpensive, and are reusable to a certain extent. I use them for baths as my daughter has ear tubes and cannot get water in her ears. I can get about 2 weeks worth of baths out of 1 pair. Good luck!
An ENT dr. suggested I try putting a drop of Mineral Oil in each ear before swimming, bathing or showering....it has been 6 months & so far no ear infections! On the times I forget to put it in I use "Aur-dry". It is basically IPA w/ glycerin. My son prefers the oil.
Good luck.
Kristine (boys 4 1/2 and 1 1/2)
When my brother was 3, he had to have tubes put into his ears. Since we love to swim every day at the pool, the doctor recommended ear plugs that molded into his ears and to wear a swim cap. Sometimes, he would wear the cap and sometimes not. The plugs definitely helped and were waterproof. I have seen them in many stores here (most recently at Hyvee and Walmart) where the swimmer's ear drops, ear wax kits, and regular ear plugs are sold. Hope this helps! K.
Mack's AquaBlock Earplugs or their Pillow Soft silicone Earplugs. If your kids have a hard time keeping their earplugs in, consider also using the Aqua-Earband or Ear Band-It neoprene swimmer's headband.
My doctor said that earplugs can agitate the swimmers ear if they already have it... so she suggested using the swimmers headband, my daughter was not a huge fan of it so we just had to stay out of the water till the swimmers ear was gone.
Regarding to helping prevent it. You can use an over-the-counter ear drying agent that contains isopropyl alcohol/rubbing alcohol, like Auro-Dri or Swim Ear, or one with acetic acid and aluminum acetate (Star-Otic). You also can create your own homemade swimmer's ear prevention solution but I never had so maybe ask you doc about it or another mom might now how to do that.
I think the reason the doctor told you to go with the cotton ball is because earplugs will be irritating to the outer ear and ear canal, causing more pain to the Swimmer's Ear. Check with the doctor first before trying anything else. At the very least make sure the Swimmer's Ear is healed first. When we needed earplugs for our son (for the very same reason) I went into Walgreens and talked with the pharmasist. The only thing I can remember about them is that they were orange. Good luck with everything!
My son gets this every time we go to Florida and what I found to work really well was this kit that I got at Target. I comes with colorful ear plugs and then a Neopean head band that is adjustable to keep the plugs from falling out. My son learned that it really did make a difference and he got to the point that he wouldn't go in the water without it. Good luck, J.
The best ear plugs we ever had were plugs we had made at a place that makes hearing aids. There is a hearing aid place by the Shopko on West Center by the Oakview mall. I don't remember the name of the place, but it is in the strip mall with Shopko and Old Country Buffet there. I don't remember what they cost either. It has been many years. They are great because they fit the ear totally. The only bad thing for you would be your child is so young that I don't know how long they would last before you would have to do it again. I guess it all depends on the cost.
Cotton balls doesn't really seem like an answer to me either.
My daughter had ear tubes from age 1-5 (she is now 6) and my son (3yrs) still has tubes. Both love to swim and love the water.
For both of them, we used ear plugs and then the swim head band. The headband is soft stretch fabric that has velcro to attach it close so it seems comfortable. We got our headbands at our ear doctor but I have also seen them at Foss so I bet you could find them more places. They really work great to prevent water from getting in their ears. We didn't have trouble getting them to wear them. My daughter is a rule follower so she didn't question it and with my son we told him the only way to get in the water is to wear the headband which seemed to work.
Good Luck!
