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Removing Water From the Ear After Swimming

Removing Water From the Ear After Swimming

Dpickard / Public Domain

It's important to remove water stuck inside the ears after swimming, water sports or showering. Water inside the ears can make them feel clogged and may may muffle hearing. What's worse, it can be a breeding ground for bacteria that cause ear infections. Ear care should be performed properly and safely to prevent damage.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:
  • Cotton balls or towel Swimmer's ear drops Eyedropper Vinegar Isopropyl alcohol
  • Cotton balls or towel
  • Swimmer's ear drops
  • Eyedropper
  • Vinegar
  • Isopropyl alcohol
Step 1
Tilt your head to one side to allow water to drain out of your ear. Repeat by tilting to the opposite side to drain the other ear.
Step 2
Dry the outer areas of your ears with a cotton ball or with a towel, being careful not to insert either material into the ear canals.
Step 3
Place ear-drying eardrops in your ears if water still remains or if you are prone to ear infections. You can buy drops sold for swimmer's ear at your local pharmacy, or make your own drops by combining equal amounts of water and white vinegar or equal amounts of water and isopropyl alcohol.
Step 4
To insert the drops, tilt your head to the side. Use one hand to gently pull the ear lobe down on the ear facing upward. With an eyedropper, drop three drops of the ear solution into the ear canal. Do not insert the eyedropper into the ear canal. Tilt your head to the opposite side and repeat the process.

Tips & Warnings

 
If isopropyl alcohol stings your ears, use white vinegar instead. Vinegar restores the proper pH balance in the ear canals.
 
If isopropyl alcohol stings your ears, use white vinegar instead.
 
Vinegar restores the proper pH balance in the ear canals.
 
Do not use eardrops if you have a have an ear infection, an ear tube or a perforated eardrum. See a doctor if ear pain develops, if you have hearing loss or if discharge drains out of the ears. Never insert anything into your ear canals. Inserting objects into the ears could damage the eardrums.
 
Do not use eardrops if you have a have an ear infection, an ear tube or a perforated eardrum.
 
See a doctor if ear pain develops, if you have hearing loss or if discharge drains out of the ears.
 
Never insert anything into your ear canals. Inserting objects into the ears could damage the eardrums.

Resources

Article Written By Rose Kivi

Rose Kivi has been a writer for more than 10 years. She has a background in the nursing field, wildlife rehabilitation and habitat conservation. Kivi has authored educational textbooks, patient health care pamphlets, animal husbandry guides, outdoor survival manuals and was a contributing writer for two books in the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Series.

Write for Trails.com

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