My ear hurts.

Fun Under Pressure

Go to an ear, nose and throat specialist and let him wash out your ear. 4 day´s of waiting and you can go diving again. I have problems when i do the descend to fast and my ear clearing to late. Get well soon.

Cheers M arkku

babar

Public Service Announcement

A little maintenence goes a long way. A little white distilled vinager in each ear after each dive can prevent the dreaded swimmers ear. Plus then you smell like salad dressing

The US Navy used to use a cocktail of domeboro (acetic acid and aluminum acetate) for it's divers both of these are very effective. some people use ethyl or isopropyl alcohol, or peroxide. These tend to be a little too drying.

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Babar
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decoweenie

Just buy the Swimmer-Ears (in a squeeze bottle) and give a few drops in each ear after a dive.

I use it on long trips where I do multiple dives in multiple days.

toe

Had same sort of problem when I started diving ten years lasted about two months, The problem was caused by dirty water and cured by a course of antibiotics.

The problem occured again this year after diving vobster and NDC ON MOD1. Both times the problem happened in fresh still never in the sea. ( And I did see someone releave themselfs in the NDC water! where does this go.)

Its taken two courses of antibiotcs and eight weeks to cure what we call swimmers ear. A real pain but get to doc asap as it can linger for months.

There is a product called swimmers ear which I use before and after diving which helps prevent problem.
Best advise is with any ear probs get it checked take no chances.

Best of luck.

Cheers
Tony

Celia_E

This is an article that previously appeared in DAN's Alert Diver regarding Otitis externa or swimmer's ear written by the late Dr Ed Thalmann. It is illuminating on the subject of swimmer's ear and contains Ed'd homebrew recipe, which I have been using for years without having any problems with otitis externa. I hope you guys find it as interesting and useful as I did.

More On Swimmers Ear
DAN revisits and expands on the preventive measures for otitis externa


By Edward D. Thalmann, M.D., DAN Assistant Medical Director Captain, Medical Corps, U.S. Navy (retired)

Background
The Alert Diver article on preventing otitis externa, or swimmers ear (Jan./Feb. 1999), has generated a considerable number of commentaries from DAN members. This correspondence - both written and via telephone - has ranged from inquiries about "home brew" formulations to questioning whether recommending Otic Domeboro(r) Solution had some economic motivation.
First, DAN has absolutely no economic interest in any of the medications mentioned in the article. We named Otic Domeboro simply because it is the only solution tested by the Navy. However, there are others solutions which may work as well and turn out to be less expensive. Ask your pharmacist for recommendations.

When the Navy set out to tackle otitis externa in saturation divers, it did not want to use a "home brew": it needed a remedy that was pre-packaged, off-the-shelf, readily available, easy to use and one that worked. Otic Domeboro fit the bill; and the $1-per-day cost of preventing mission-compromising ear infections was insignificant considering the tens of thousands of dollars a day that many saturation dives cost.
The paper that inspired the choice of Otic Domeboro for the Navy otitis externa study was written by Dr. Edley H. Jones (Prevention of "Swimming Pool Ear." Laryngoscope 1971; 81:731-3). Dr. Jones began his observations back in 1924 at a local YMCA summer camp. He found that a saturated solution of boric acid in 90 percent ethyl alcohol prevented swimmers ear because the solution rapidly dried moist ear canals.
During the next 10 years he tried other solutions and found that 75 percent isopropyl alcohol worked as well. In 1938 someone contacted him with the information that the solution no longer worked. Upon investigation, however, Dr. Jones discovered that the user had not allowed the solution to remain in the canal long enough for the full dehydrating effect to work.
In 1961, Dr. Jones reported that five minutes of exposure to 5 percent acetic acid killed all bacteria normally found in the ear canal. He then judged that this would be an effective way to prevent swimmers ear, so he mixed some isopropyl alcohol with 5 percent acetic acid solution in several varieties to try at the camp. He found that 5 percent acetic acid in 85 percent isopropyl alcohol worked best. Adding a moisturizer (2 percent Alpha Keri oil) added nothing; and adding 10 percent propylene glycol (another moisturizer) caused the cells lining the ear canal to slough off, which was undesirable.
Other medical papers have stressed that it is the acidic pH that is the most important feature of solutions used for otitis externa. A 2 percent acetic acid solution has a pH of 3.0 and was found to drop the ear canal pH to 4-5: bactericidal to the normally found bacteria in the ear canal. ( Otic Domeboro was chosen for the Navy study because the 2 percent acetic acid gave it the right pH and it also had drying agents.)

Making Your Own
So what's all this leading up to? "Home brew" to prevent ear infection, as many of our member wrote in to share with us.
White wine vinegar is 4-6 percent acetic acid, and if it's mixed with an equal amount of isopropyl alcohol, it would probably work fine. Using undiluted vinegar may make the solution too acidic and cause irritation. Using less alcohol may be wise if you find that the 50:50 mix provides too much drying - this can make your ear canal sore after several days of use.
In principle, just diluting the acetic acid 50:50 with water might work since it appears that the acidic pH is more important than the drying effect of the alcohol. Adding propylene glycol or other moisturizers would seem either to be a waste of time in a home-brew, or it might produce undesirable effects according to Dr. Jones' observations.
Could lemon juice, which contains citric acid instead of acetic acid, be used instead if vinegar, as some members advised? In principle, if a solution was mixed to a pH of 3.0 it might, but whether other substances in lemon juice might promote bacterial growth I cannot say. For home brew I'd stick to what works - vinegar and isopropyl alcohol.
No matter what solution you use, remember its effectiveness is drastically reduced unless it remains in the ear canal a full five minutes. Another caution: the above solutions are for use in the otherwise normal ear with an intact eardrum. If there is any hint that the eardrum may be torn, do not use these solutions as they may cause damage to middle ear structures. And if any solution causes irritation, stop using it.

Dive safe,

Celia

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Mdemon

Excellent! Many thanks. (It would be great if citric acid works as well since it doesn't smell and I have tons in my toolbox.)

I didn't realise so many people have this problem. It might make for an interesting poll later.

Off to the Quack shortly.

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"Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"

Ben Field

Whatever it is- get it sorted.

My ex got a I quote- "Very minor infection that will clear up in a few days" in her ear diving in Oz, came home, it got worse, saw GP, he shrugged, saw another, he got her some pills etc etc.

Now she's 60% deaf in one ear, apparently this is a PITA.

Turn up just before the docs close crying and holding your ear, I'm sure they'll see you out of sympathy

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Beware Fridge Suck

caveseeker7

Could have been you were sitting too close to Lou during the game?
She lost her voice, wouldn't be suprising if you lost your hearing in the process.

Wish you a quick and painless recovery.

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Cheers
Stefan



"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media,
which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.'!"

Mdemon

Back from the Quack. I can confirm that your average Old Age Pensioner is no match for a Rebreather diver with a sore ear when it comes to getting to the front of the queue.

(Crying helped a lot too - top tip there Ben. )


Eardrum intact. Inflamation at the top, outside. 1.5g antibiotics for the next seven days. Can get wet after that, apparently. She said I should keep taking the anti-inflammatories I'd been taking too.

Well, thanks for the advice everyone. I wouldn't have gone to the Quack normally - "6 months off" got me out the door though. Will be interesting to see if it works.

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"Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"

Sutty

I get otitis externa on multi-day red sea trips. I now use a acetic acid/isopropanol mixture similar to that mentioned above (made it up from 70% isopropanol and a measured amount of glacial acetic acid). I try to use this at least once a day on trips, and have had no problems if I do.

On a cheerful note otitis externa doesn't have to last long, mine clears up quickly with antibiotic drops (usually sofradex or gentisone). For me the crucial thing seems to be to start treatment ASAP, as it has gone from mild discomfort to pretty painful in a matter of hours.

Neil

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