Swimmer with Ear Pain

Has the doctor diagnosed her with an ear infection or with "Swimmer's ear"? It's an easy assessment. When your daughter pulls down, gently, on her ear lobe, does the ear physically hurt or not? A middle ear infection generally doesn't hurt but swimmer's ear will, with a simple tug.

Getting her ear drops for swimmer's ear is important. You can also use rubbing alcohol and drop a couple drops in the ear (let her "hear" it drop in each ear) after she swims because it will dry up any excess water in her ear. There is also a product on the market called "swimmer's ear" which can help her too and basically works the same way as rubbing alcohol. If she has swimmer's ear, she really should avoid swimming for 7 days because this can really become extremely painful. Yes, Tylenol or Advil can help ease some of the painful symptoms, as can a hot water bottle/ compress but... if this pain becomes more severe, take action quickly.

Right now, she needs to have something to clear up the swimmer's ear and sometimes a prescription of antibiotic ear drops for swimmer's ear may be necessary. Personally, I would call your local, trusted Pharmacist and get their opinion on what they see offered for your daughter's condition. (They always offer good, free advise!) If your daughter is in the water, daily, this can potentially get worse without proper treatment and you need more guidance than your doctor is giving you.

Good luck.

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Try a few drops of rubbing alcohol (or Swimmer's Ear drops) in her ears when she gets out of the water. It'll help to draw out any moisture and keep ear infections at bay. This is coming from a former competitive swimmer...there wasn't a day of summer we weren't in the pool unless there was lightning!

1 mom found this helpful

It could be water in the ear - all my kids used to get it - especially my 2 swim team members. I used a product called Swimmer's Ear. It is drops for the ear. Be careful you don't use it too much, be we always have it on had. The problem was usually worse in the summer.

hylands makes an ear care solution which you can find at any whole foods or natural foods store

I would contact your doctor. It could be swimmers ear which is very painful. My daughter had it when she was younger. The doctor will give her some ear drops. It works very quickly. Good luck.

Just to make it clear in your mind, remember there are 2 different kinds of ear infections. The inner ear infections (behind the ear drum) are treated with oral antibiotics. Swimmers ear, or an infection of the ear canal, can be treated with ear drops.

Like the other posters, we like the alcohol treatment after swimming if she feels water in her ear when she gets out. It dries the water out so it doesn't become infected.

In your case, you should get a prescription for the drops and keep it around for future use.

Sounds like it could be swimmer's ear. Looks like you got a lot of suggestions for addressing it. For future prevention, I'd get wax ear plugs and a swim cap for your daughter to keep water out of the ear. We used to use them when we had tubes in our ears -- don't know the brand but they came in a small box from the drug store as two balls or ovals of almost transluscent white wax, that can be formed to fit into the ear (like the soft plastic earpieces for cell phone head sets). Hope she feels better soon!

I agree with the other mom about this and wanted to add, there is a product you can buy over-the-counter called Swimmer's Ear. It is an ear drop that prevents ear infections. My dad used it on me as a kid and I was a little fish, always in the water. It helped a lot. My daughter gets ear infections a lot and her doc doesn't prescribe antibiotics either, he does ear drops, so if you did want to go the doc route, ask about an ear drop to help, they may just say swimmer's ear, too.
Good luck!
D.

I am 34 and still have issues with my ears...I picked up some homeopathic drops from a health food store that I use when I feel pain, they work good for me! Good luck.

The hot compresses work. Buy her ear plugs to swim with and to use in the shower if necessary.

There is this over the counter treatment called "SWIMMER'S EAR". It worked for my kids last summer. You can get it at any pharmacy.

Sounds like swimmer's ear. My brother's use to get it all the time. My mom would put peroxide in the boys ears and that would clear it up. They also use to make drops for it that we could get from the doctor.

80% of ear infections get better without treatment. Antibiotic treatment has only minimal benefits in reducing pain and fever. I'd use a pain reliever and apply heat to the ear to help relieve the earache with a warm washcloth or a heating pad. Encourage rest with quiet play activities. And I wouldn't use eardrops without a health professional's advice.

M.

I don't know what the current medical thinking is on swimmer's ear/infection but trust your daughter's complaints of pain. I was a avid swimmer as a child (age 6 to HS with 3 summers of lifeguarding). I had several bouts of swimmer's ear and infections that were tremendously painful and made sleeping difficult. If the doctor won't offer antibiotics treatment at this point certainly he/she could prescribe pain eardrops while the ear(s) heal. Maybe others will have some homopathic suggestions as well. Additionally, your daughter needs to get in the habit of clearing her ears of water after each practice. Best of luck to her!

Your daughter could have what's known as "swimmer's ear". My 18 year old daughter is a lifeguard & she was just in to the doctor yesterday for swimmer's ear. The doctor prescribed ear drops 3 times a day for 1 week. They can also give you a recipe to make drops at home that you can put in her ear after swimming(in the future)to help dry out the ear & keep the water from getting caught in the ear canal. Usually you can tell if you have swimmer's ear by touching or moving the ear by holding on to the cartilage above the ear lobe - if it hurts, it's usually swimmer's ear. Hope this helps!!!
B. H.

If she has an ear infection that is bad your doctor need to give her antibiotics. Years ago my son had an ear infection and in the middle of the night he spiked a fever and ended up having a seizure. Ear infection are nothing to mess around with. Scaring in the ear can lead to hearing loss or ringing in the ear.
But if she does not have an ear infection and her ear hurts what she could have is a yeast infection in her AKA: Candida of the ear. I get this when I swim so I have started wearing ear plugs when I swim. There are ear pugs now that form right to your ear and keep the water out. It is not the pool that causes it. It is the dampness that gets in the ear and stays there. Ear plugs will keep the ear dry.

S.

My daughter has used some over the counter drops called swim ear or swimmer's ear. It helped her.

I was a swimmer and would get lots of ear pain during the season, try to keep water out of her ears try ear plugs it works for me!

I agree with most other posts that it could be swimmers ear, if so it needs to be treated with antibiotics. When it heals use a few drops of rubbing alcohol in each ear after every time she swims. I was on swim team for years when I was younger and I got several swimmers ear infections.

Here is a link to a Dr. Sears article on Swimmers ear

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t085900.asp

Infection in the ear is common for kids/people who swim. It actually has a name: swimmer's ear. I'm not a medical professional, but my daughter had it a couple of summers ago. Antibiotics worked well and quickly. The pain was terrible and went away with meds. For legit info, I would recommend WebMd and get the whole scoop on swimmer's ear.