Water you can't get out of your ear

[kpgclark]

We're on vacation and I need some advice for my husband who I think has water stuck in his ear from the pool. He says he can't hear anything out of that ear. He got a solution from the drug store (containing alcohol I think) and put it in his ear but it hasn't worked so far and it hurt his ear some as well. Does anyone have experience getting water (at least I think it is water) out of the ear?

 

[Pop Daddy]

I had to go to the Doctor, nothing over the counter worked

 

[browneyes]

The alcohol should've dried up the excess water. It also tends to burn my ear when I put it in my ear. What helps me sometimes is to put a piece of cotton in the ear that has water in it, then laying down on that side to put pressure on the cotton. If it's both sides that hurts, I alternate sides.

 

[DebbieB]

I had that problem once and it turned into a bad earache. I had to go to the doctor to have it flushed out, wax was against my eardrum. The moment the wax popped out, it felt instantly better.

 

[Tiggeroo]

We used to use plain alcohol.
Remember the final Seinfeld episode?

 

[toystoryduo]

Someone once told me that if you have swimmer's ear, you should put peroxide in it and the water will bubble out. Has anyone tried this?

 

[RachelEllen]

You can't really get water 'stuck' in your ear for all that long. There's nothing to really hold it in. If he feels like he can't hear well out of that ear, most likely something is blocking it. That could be something in front of the drum like wax or a foreign body or somethng behind the ear like an infection or air trapped because of blocked tubes. The wax is most likely if this has been a long standing or recurrant problem. The foreign body is most likely if he is under the age of ten (sorry, I'm a pediatrician). The other things may be occuring if he has other cold symptoms or congestion. The other major possibility, especially if he banged his head into the water and is now feeling a sting when he puts drops in, is that his eardrum ruptured. I'd definitely stop using drops, and get someone to look in his ear. That will solve the mystery very quickly.

Rachel

 

[phamton]

If it burns, he may already have swimmers ear and will need medication.

When my kids used to swim everyday, they used to get swimmers ear a lot. This is what we were told to do by the swim coach to prevent swimmers ear. Mix half and half alcohol and vinegar. Put a few drops in the ear. Wait one minute, then soak up the excess with a cotton ball. Then dry the ears with the hairdryer on the cool setting. No more swimmers ear.

The reason for alcohol and vinegar is the alcohol dries up the water and the vinegar changes the pH so that the ear is not as prone to the fungus infection of swimmers ear.

We used to use Hydrogen peroxide and it does bubble and helps to disolve ear wax but it makes the ear too moist.

 

[poohkinandpiglet]

Try taking a decongestant like Sudafed. For some reason, my ears always get clogged after swimming. The decongestant will open the tubes and help the water drain out.

 

[kpgclark]

Thanks for all your assistance. My brother-in-law (who we're visiting) got my husband in to see a colleague of his today. It turns out he had mega ear way which the doctor removed. His ears hurt a little now but he can hear well again. I won't bore you with details but my husband said the process was quite painful.

 

[phamton]

Did it involve a waterpik?

 

[kpgclark]

My husband was lucky enough to watch the whole procedure on a video monitor that enlarged the image.