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Keep Your Child from Developing Swimmer’s Ear

By EarQ August 25, 2015
Ah, summer! A season filled with beach trips, water parks, swimming pools, and other warm weather activities.

Most of these activities have one thing in common: water. While swimming is fun, though, it’s important to take some precautions to protect your child’s ears. If extra water gets trapped in the ear canal, a type of infection commonly known as swimmer’s ear can develop.

What Is Swimmer’s Ear?

Swimmer’s ear is a bacterial infection of the outer ear most commonly caused when excess moisture is allowed to collect in the ear canal, allowing for a rapid growth of bacteria. However, bacteria can also enter if the skin of the inner ear is damaged or scratched.

Swimmer’s ear causes pain, itching, redness in the ear, and sometimes mild hearing loss. It’s easily treatable with antibiotics, but it shouldn’t be taken lightly; any untreated infection can worsen and become a much more serious matter.

Children are more susceptible to swimmer’s ear because their ear canals are smaller and trap water more easily. Any signs of swimmer’s ear warrant a trip to the family doctor, but there are also steps you can take to prevent the infection from ever developing in the first place.

How Can It Be Prevented?

First, dry your child’s ears immediately after they finish swimming. Eliminating excess moisture reduces the chance of bacterial growth and therefore the chance of infection. Use a soft, clean towel to gently dry the outer ear. Do not use cotton swabs.

Next, prevent any foreign objects (like cotton swabs) from entering your child’s ears. Foreign objects can cause debris and earwax to be compacted more deeply into the ear canal, posing a risk to hearing ability. What’s more, foreign objects can also damage the skin of the inner ear, which increases the risk of infection.

You should also avoid swim sessions in water with high bacteria levels. It can be tough to tell how dirty water is, but some unsafe swimming spots are marked appropriately. Many (but not all) times, water with a lot of bacteria will appear dirty or murky. If there aren’t any signs and you’re unsure of the water’s cleanliness, avoid swimming there.

Finally, swimmer’s plugs (small, silicone earplugs that prevent water from entering the ear canal) are a great way to keep the ear canal dry. You can buy one-size-fits-all swimmer’s plugs in most retail stores, but custom-fit plugs provide much better protection than retail plugs do. Washable and reusable, custom-fit plugs are created from a mold of the actual outer ear, which allows for a near-perfect seal. They also float, so if one does happen to come out, it’ll be easy to find. These can be custom-made for your kid’s (or your) ears by your local hearing healthcare provider.

Even if your child sometimes seems more like a fish than a kid, you can make swimming safer for the whole family with these simple tips to prevent swimmer’s ear.


EarQ is a nationwide network of 1,400 independent hearing healthcare provider locations working toward national public awareness and advocating for greater access to quality hearing healthcare services and products.