Getting water out of your ears
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strivingrunner posted 1 year ago.
I do not wear ear plugs. When I finish if water is in my ear I will lean the clogged ear to the side and jump up and down. After I swim I always use Swim Ear drops. This seems to work.
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kylie posted 1 year ago.
Are swim ear drops basically just rubbing alcohol? I believe that is what I heard will do the trick. I usually just complain about it for a minute and then ignore it ;)
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mtbke15 posted 1 year ago.
Yea that's pretty much what I have been doing. I was thinking of ear drops but thought that was more for swimming in open water to kill any bacteria that will get in.
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beads1985 posted 1 year ago.
You can make your own
To make an effective ear drying solution, you will need rubbing alcohol and distilled white vinegar. The mixture requires 50% rubbing alcohol and 50% distilled white vinegar. You will also need a small medicine dropper to administer the drops into the ear canal.
If you are prone to getting water trapped in your ear i would recommend ear plugs.
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swimmer52 posted 1 year ago.
If a simple (or vigirous) head shaking doesn't get it out I'll use the jump-on-one-foot method. If water is stuck in the left ear, jump on the left foot with your head tilted to the left. Looks kinda funny though.
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deepbluex posted 1 year ago.
shaking my head never works. What you want to do is stand up straight, then tilt your head to the side, and jump up and down on a hard surface like concrete or tile with bare feet. That seems to be the force needed to break the surface tension of the water from the ear canal and make it run out.
As an alternative, roll up a piece of toilet paper into a thin rope and then stick that up your ear. it should absorb the water.
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Carlos Mx posted 1 year ago.
beads1985 wrote:
To make an effective ear drying solution, you will need rubbing alcohol and distilled white vinegar. The mixture requires 50% rubbing alcohol and 50% distilled white vinegar. You will also need a small medicine dropper to administer the drops into the ear canal.
+1. I had this problem with water in my left ear three or four years ago. The doctor said that it was a small infection and prescribed this solution. I used it for a couple of weeks and have never had the problem again.
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Nobody posted 1 year ago.
Earplugs are a pretty easy low tech solution that prevents water in the ear in the first place. Foam ones are great, but need to dry out in between uses. Silicone ones (the squishy kind) work ok--sometimes they fall out and they need to be resquished during long swims. Then there are rubber ones that work REALLY well (my choice).
My ears are shaped in such a way that seem to pump water directly into my eardrum, so I don't swim without 'em.
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groovyjen posted 1 year ago.
I mock Mr. Groovy mercilessly for the hop on one foot maneuver. Somehow he manages to make it even dorkier, in his own endearing way.
So I say go for the hop on one foot. Just make sure someone else is around to benefit from the inevitable goofiness.
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TriSooner posted 1 year ago.
Clean your ears first, as in, get rid of the wax. The only time I've ever had an issue with water not leaving my ears was when it was full of this nasty black/green slab of wax. The doc-in-the-box told me it was the wax that was holding the water. Since then, notta problem.
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beads1985 posted 1 year ago.
TriSooner wrote:
Clean your ears first, as in, get rid of the wax. The only time I've ever had an issue with water not leaving my ears was when it was full of this nasty black/green slab of wax. The doc-in-the-box told me it was the wax that was holding the water. Since then, notta problem.
"nasty black/green slab of wax"? ;-P
You really need to clean your ears more often than once a decade!! ;-)
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TriSooner posted 1 year ago.
beads1985 wrote:
"nasty black/green slab of wax"? ;-P
You really need to clean your ears more often than once a decade!! ;-)
No kidding. Let's see, I have a list somewhere of Things I Clean Once a Decade . . . (psst, I don't floss either. Meh. Flosh-Shmosh. That's what dental insurance is for.)
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mtbke15 posted 1 year ago.
My ears are definitely clean and I have never had "nasty black/green slab of wax" in my ears and you might want to check that doc-in-the-box again and see what they say about that :) I like the idea of the ear drops, but for jumping up and down on one foot shaking my head, i will give anything a try once.
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beads1985 posted 1 year ago.
TriSooner wrote:
beads1985 wrote:"nasty black/green slab of wax"? ;-P
You really need to clean your ears more often than once a decade!! ;-)No kidding. Let's see, I have a list somewhere of Things I Clean Once a Decade . . . (psst, I don't floss either. Meh. Flosh-Shmosh. That's what dental insurance is for.)
I hope you saved the "nasty black/green slab of wax" for bike lube!! ;-)
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bes5920 posted 1 year ago.
I love this topic. I do the hop on one foot thingy too. I always feel silly but it works. Made me laugh reading a description of it though. If it works I don't really care how stupid I look. I mean I wear bike shorts in public - that right there is enough to erase all self-consciousness.
Awesome discussion. Thanks for the pick-me-up.
Bryce
After swimming for the last few weeks I continuously get water in my left ear. While swimming I stop for a moment to shake it out, but no matter how often I do this I always end up with water stuck in just my left ear and it usually takes sometimes up to a day for it to all come out. I breath to the left mostly so I am sure part of it has to do with that. Do you use ear plugs while swimming or what do you use to get the water out.
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