Swimmer's Ear from the Pool in Children

Pools are a great place to have fun. However, they can also cause issues for your body, like ear aches, fungus, and swimmer's ear. Find out all about it in this article.

Swimmer’s ear is one of the most common ailments after a day of fun in the water. Water violently enters your ears, and since it gets trapped, it grows bacteria and causes discomfort.

To capture sound waves, the human ear has a few structures and lots of different tissues. Likewise, it also has spaces full of air to help sound travel inside the ear.

On the other hand, deep inside the ear are structures that inform the brain about head movements. This way, they help your body stay balanced.

Clearly, the ear fulfills basic functions in your body, so it’s important to be careful when going swimming. Then, you could get an ear infection called swimmer’s ear from the pool.

An infection in the ear canal can cause discomfort because water gets in and makes it too damp. Therefore, it creates the best conditions to house different types of fungi and bacteria.

In general, this type of ailment mainly affects children. This is because children usually stay in the water much longer.

Common symptoms of swimmer’s ear

Frequent pain in the ears

This can also affect just one ear. Usually, it’s not very serious. However, if you don’t treat it in time, it can get more serious as the days go by.

This annoyance can also come and go. However, this doesn’t mean that the root of the problem has disappeared.

You have to consult a specialist and take care of it as soon as possible. That way, you can prevent it from happening as your child gets older.

Inflammation of the ear canal

One of the ways to know if your child has swimmer’s ear is to see if he constantly covers his ear. Generally, kids feel like there’s still water in their ear, even if there isn’t.

Inflammation of ganglia

Ganglia are inside the ears. Usually, you can feel them when there’s some type of infection or swelling in the ear canal.

Discomfort while chewing

Sometimes, it can even be painful or uncomfortable to chew while eating. You might feel discomfort or itchy inside your ears.

Pus formation

This is actually very rare. However, when it starts to appear, this liquid has a light yellow color that, if not treated in time, becomes pus.

Fever

This usually happens a few days after going swimming. The moisture that stays inside the ear canal accommodates fungi or bacteria. Therefore, it can cause a temperature change in the body.

How to prevent swimmer’s ear

If you don’t take the proper steps, your day of fun can end with a lot of discomfort when you get home. Additionally, it can go on for a while. First, you should consider using earplugs to prevent water from entering the ear canal.

If you don’t have plugs, or you tried them but they weren’t that effective, then consider these other tips.

After a day at the pool, clean your ears to prevent swimmer’s ear

The most important thing is to dry your ears carefully. It’s best to use a thin cotton cloth and tilt your head on both sides. That way, the water can come out easily. If your child has swimmer’s ear, it’s best for an adult to help so that he doesn’t hurt himself.

Another idea is to use a hair dryer and gently blow warm air inside each ear to prevent fungi and bacteria from forming. Once your ears are free of moisture, you can use drops of vinegar or acetic acid with alcohol to make sure you get rid of bacteria that may still be there.

If you don’t want to add drops of vinegar, you can go to a pharmacy and get drops of acetic acid. However, you shouldn’t use this solution if the patient has a ruptured eardrum.

You can’t stop taking care of your ears when you’re in the pool, much less your children’s ears, since they need more intensive care. Follow our tips to solve this condition at home while it isn’t very serious. If you notice that the pain persists, go to the doctor.

In short, swimmer’s ear is incredibly unpleasant. It prevents you from sleeping, is annoying while eating, and causes other discomfort. Make sure to stay one step ahead of this issue so that you and your family can have fun at the pool without problems.