Thursday, June 12, 2008

How To Get Water Out of Ears

With summer and hot weather comes swimming. With swimming comes the risk of ear infections or "swimmer's ear." When I was a kid my family did lots of swimming and for a few years we even belonged to a place with a pool. So we could go there and swim every day in the summer. It was great. I remember getting "swimmer's" ear a few times back then. It can be really painful and require medical attention.

I'm no expert on "swimmer's ear" or anything, and don't know any statistics on it but it seems like maybe kids are more susceptible to it. My son hasn't had it yet. But every time he goes swimming he seems to get water in his ears. And then he does something that can look quite funny or embarrassing, depending on what mood your in. He does the "jump up and down dance," the "hop on one foot, while you tilt your head to the side thing," or the "bang your head on anything that's available thing." This could go on for awhile while he tries to get the water out of his ear.

It's somewhat humorous, but also annoying, to him at least. And he has been lucky not to have gotten an ear infection, so far. But I think this summer my husband and I have stumbled on to what I think could be the
miracle cure, to all this.

Drum Roll Please.... the cure is a simple bulb syringe.













We have a small pool in the backyard, and the kids have already been swimming a lot. As soon as my son gets water in his ear, he grabs this bulb syringe. Squeezes it, then puts it into what ever ear has water in it, releases the bulb, and Voila no more water in his ear.

This will could be the end to all those crazy "dances" he used to do. And more importantly the risk of him getting an ear infection has decreased. I don't know why we never thought of this before. If this is a problem for you or your kids, get a bulb syringe at any drug store for under 5 dollars, and it could save you a lot of problems!

3 comments:

  1. It like a cute toy. Ha! I used to put my palm cover my ear closely as I can. Than like plumber's helper suck out the water in my ear.^^

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  2. My mom used a vinegar/alcohol mixture. Put a drop or two in the ear, let it settle in for a moment, and drain. I like the bulb solution a bit better since the kid can do it relatively safely himself.

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  3. I found this by googling "how to get water out of ear." I had water in both my ears after swimming with my kids this afternoon. I have never thought to use the little bulb! We have 2 or 3 lying around. Thanks for the tip, I feel a lot better!!

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