Ear care after diving the springs?

[ManTeeRay]

Hi Dave,

There is a great article about this ("Otitis Externa: Can You Prevent It") as well as some other ear related issues in the July/August issue of Alert Diver magazine published by DAN. It talks about a study that the Navy did using a commercial product (Domeboro Otic solution) that eliminated the problem in even their saturation divers. The article talks about the how the "Home Brew" products work well also. The Domeboro Otic is a prescription and is expensive. The conclusion was that the important part of the treatment, whichever solution you use, is the application. It should be used before your first dive in the morning and after your last dive in the evening and needs to stay in each ear a FULL 5 MINUTES per application. It also talks about how and why the solutions work and how to optimize the "home Brew" .

I had a pharmacist in Hawaii (my ears were a mess) tell me to use equal parts white vinegar with high strength 91% Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol which worked but was kind of harsh so, based on that and what the dive master told me I have found that a solution of 2 parts (20ml) vinegar + 2 parts (20ml) alcohol + 1 part (10ml) distilled water + 1 part (10ml) Hydrogen Peroxide works quite well. You could probably leave out the peroxide as it looses its potency after a while anyway. According to the above article the most important part of the solution is the PH adjustment caused by the vinegar (acetic acid) which is about right as diluted above. The alcohol helps dry the ear canal.

If you would like to read the article but, don't have access to it I would be glad to copy it and fax, e-mail or send it to you.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi ManTeeRay,

Actually, the "Alert Diver" article which you mention is a rather marginal one. You may find post #7 within this thread -----> http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=155079&highlight=domboro to be informative in this regard.

In fact, since I posted that, DAN has decided that the article is beyond a simple correction notice and will be publishing a new piece on preventing otitis externa in a near future issue.

In the meantime, solutions containing hydrogen peroxide and high concentrations of alcohol are not recommended as they can be overly drying and leave the ear even more prone to infection.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[Charlie99]

Is it better to use 90% alchohol instead of 70% in the ear rinse? I've been using it for awhile but just got to thinking that maybe the stronger stuff would work better.

I've used both 70% isopropyl, aka rubbing alcohol, and 93% isopropyl alcohol, just depending upon what happens to be around.

It doesn't really matter much in my mix, which is 50/50 alcohol and vinegar since the vinegar is 95% water --- so you are just tweaking end alcohol percent up or down between about 35% and 45%. Doesn't change things much either if you use the 1/3 vinegar (5% acetic acid), 1/3 alcohol, 1/3 water mix that others suggest.

 

[ManTeeRay]

Thanks Doc, The solution I have been mixing seems to help me quite a bit. I have heard that using hydrogen peroxide on a regular basis to clean your ears removes all of the natural wax needed for your ears (canals?) to function properly as well as drying them out. I will quit putting the peroxide in the solution. I definately noticed that using straight 91% alcohol and vinegar, as suggested by the Hawiian pharmicist, was too harsh. A lot of that was probably from the drying effect along with the basic irritaion of the strong alcohol on already irritated tissue?

In your article you suggest a 75% H2O / 25% vinegar solution. This makes sense as the important function of the solution is to create an environment that is not conducive to the growth of bacteria and other microrganisms. That solution would lower the PH enough to acheive this goal. Would adding some alcohol, without any peroxide, help or hurt? I assume some drying would help keep the nasties from gowing? Or rather trapped water in the ear would be conducive the their growth?

I'll have to try to find the Bosch and Lomb solution or have it formulated, as suggested, then I may not have to worry about the above question.

Thanks again.