fear of ear infections
Since I have been swimming a LOT recently, I am afraid I may be getting
swimmer's ear. It is not just a fear, but a pain lingers in my ears,
and my throat is beginning to feel somewhat thick. The last time I had
an ear infection was this summer, and probably due to the same fact:
too much swimming. There is nothing wrong with extra swimming, but a
swimmer knows the official rules to staying out of trouble, and I am
yet learning. I researched swimmer's ear yesterday and found it rather simple to prevent it.
* Dry the ear thoroughly after exposure to moisture.
* Avoid swimming in polluted water.
* Use earplugs when swimming.
* Consider putting a few drops of a 1:1 mixture of alcohol and white vinegar in the ears after they get wet. The alcohol and acetic acid prevent bacterial growth.
At least it sounds simple. I do have ear plugs, but for sme reason, I have yet to feel comfortable having anything in my ears (aside from mom's garlic cotton-ball remedy to cure nasty ear infections--I had to get used to it since I suffered from these atrocious infections as a child, and wanted to remedy the excruciating sensation in my ears at any cost ). In any case, I certainly hope I am not getting swimmer's ear. I start teaching my class tomorrow and would hate to be sick on the first day. If this is a false alarm, I really have to do something about wearing those plugs and drying my ears thoroughly after swimming and occasionally applying the alcohol/vinegar mixture recommended by several sites offering information about swimmer's ear. I have already taken two aspirins and my multivitamin, hoping tomorrow I will feel a little bit better. So far, though, no REAL pain. However, the thing about ear infections is that everything can change overnight, and for the worst. Here's for a good teaching day tomorrow, ear-infection FREE.
* Dry the ear thoroughly after exposure to moisture.
* Avoid swimming in polluted water.
* Use earplugs when swimming.
* Consider putting a few drops of a 1:1 mixture of alcohol and white vinegar in the ears after they get wet. The alcohol and acetic acid prevent bacterial growth.
At least it sounds simple. I do have ear plugs, but for sme reason, I have yet to feel comfortable having anything in my ears (aside from mom's garlic cotton-ball remedy to cure nasty ear infections--I had to get used to it since I suffered from these atrocious infections as a child, and wanted to remedy the excruciating sensation in my ears at any cost ). In any case, I certainly hope I am not getting swimmer's ear. I start teaching my class tomorrow and would hate to be sick on the first day. If this is a false alarm, I really have to do something about wearing those plugs and drying my ears thoroughly after swimming and occasionally applying the alcohol/vinegar mixture recommended by several sites offering information about swimmer's ear. I have already taken two aspirins and my multivitamin, hoping tomorrow I will feel a little bit better. So far, though, no REAL pain. However, the thing about ear infections is that everything can change overnight, and for the worst. Here's for a good teaching day tomorrow, ear-infection FREE.