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What is Swimmer’s Ear?

05/24/2021

 

Otitis externa also known as swimmer’s ear is an infection of the external auditory canal, auricle, or both that affects approximately 10% of people at some stage in their life.  Swimmer’s ear is caused when too much moisture in the ear canal causes irritation and break down of the skin allowing bacteria or fungi to penetrate.  The external auditory canal is a warm, dark environment excellent for bacterial growth leading to inflammation, irritation, pain and infection.[1]

Swimmer’s ear can also be due to dry skin, trauma of the external auditory canal, cleaning ears with cotton swabs or inserting other foreign objects into the ear canal and hearing-aid use.  Chronic swimmer’s ear may be due to allergic reactions or chronic skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis.   Cerumen also known as ear wax creates an acidic coating that inhibits bacterial and fungal growth and prevents water from penetrating the skin.   Too little wax can lead to infection as well as too much wax can lead to obstruction and cause water and debris  to get trapped in the external auditory canal leading to infection. [2]

Symptoms of swimmer’s ear are itchy ears, redness, swelling and narrowing of the external auditory canal and pain when touching the ear.  Other symptoms include yellow, yellow-green, pus-like or foul smelling drainage, severe ear pain, temporary hearing loss, ringing and ear fullness or pressure.  Symptoms are usually in one ear.[3]

Treatment for swimmer’s ear is topical medication.  The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery updated their guidelines for treating swimmer’s ear in February 2014.  The recommendations made were the use of antibiotic eardrops rather than oral antibiotics.  The advantage to treating with topical antibiotics is the high concentration of antimicrobial delivered to the infected tissue. [4]

Ways to prevent swimmer’s ear is by avoiding placement of cotton swabs or foreign objects in your ears. Use ear plugs when swimming and dry the outer ears completely after swimming or bathing.  You should seek immediate medical attention if you have a fever, severe ear pain, if you are unable to hear at all suddenly, you have new swelling in your face, behind your ears, or in your neck, you suddenly cannot move part of your face, or your face feels numb.3

If you would like more information call our office at 732-280-7855 or visit our website at http://coastalearnoseandthroat.com/

[1] http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/994550-overview

[2] http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0301/p927.html

[3] http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/994550-overview

[4] http://oto.sagepub.com/content/150/1_suppl/S1.full?3e3ea140