Homemade Swimmer's Ear formula needed

[JT2]

I often feel like I still have water in my ears for quite a while after I dive, andwhile it did't used to bother me when I was younger it does now, and I was wondering if therewere any good home-brew type concotion I could make in make up and keep at the lake and in the dive kit?

 

[Dryglove]

I use a mixture of white vinegar(kills the bacteria) and rubbing alcohol.Sometimes i even mix in some hydrogen peroxide.So far so good,no ear infections to date.

 

[JT2]

What percentages do you mix of each one?

 

[JT2]

I accidently put this post in the wrongsection, wold someone please wave the magic regulator's wand and put it in Dive Medicine. Thanks!

 

[Dryglove]

I usually use about 75% rubbing alcohol and 25% vinegar or 50% alcohol,25%vinegar and 25% hydrogen peroxide.The bad thing about the peroxide is that it bubbles in your ear and makes you hard hearing for about 5-10 min.Sounds like rice crispy cereal in you ear.

 

[crab]

I use the same ingredients, but I don't mix them. After getting them as dry as I can, I hit each ear with a q-tip of vinegar followed by a q-tip of alcohol. The vinegar kills everything and the alcohol dries things up. I'm sure they could be mixed or one could even be eliminated without sacrificing potency. If that's the case, I would be all for eliminating a step.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Mine's pretty similar to some already mentioned. I get the 91% isopropanol (normal rubbing alcohol is 70%) and mix it with white vinegar and hydrogen peroxide - 50/25/25.
Rick

 

[Bob3]

I like to flush (not just drops) with equal parts alcohol, peroxide & vinegar. After flushing, the mixture needs to soak in the ear canal for a good 5 minutes (preferably).
Alcohol is rough on the skin in there, so if I'm already having tenderness the alcohol gets cut with some distilled water so its only about 25% of the mix.

Not suprisingly, we use the same stuff for cleaning our sunglasses, works great.
:mean:

 

[John Reinertson]

Local swimming coaches and at least one US Olympic team used 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar, 3 or 4 drops each ear after dives/swim workouts.

Perxide is good for clearing out excess wax, but not essential to the mix.

All of this, of course, assumes no active infection and no holes/perforations in the eardrum.

If there's a significant amount of discomfort, get it checked out first. This stuff is a preventative, not a cure-all.

Happy diving, (with painless ears)

John

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi JT2,

Alcohol & hydrogen peroxide will dissolve the cerumen (ear wax) in the external auditory canal and possibly be excessively drying, leaving the canal prone to infection. Remember, this is on top of the drying action of repeated soakings of the ear in water while diving. IMHO, neither are essential to the mix or even desirable.

You might want to try placing a few drops of mineral oil or lanolin into a well dried ear canal before each dive to see if it helps.

If you want to go with a post-dive mix, I suggest trying a mixture of 1/3 white vinegar, 1/3 distilled water & 1/3 mineral oil.

Best regards.

DocVikingo