{"id":2136,"date":"2023-02-15T12:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T17:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/?p=2136"},"modified":"2023-03-07T12:32:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T17:32:38","slug":"what-should-i-do-if-water-gets-stuck-in-my-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/what-should-i-do-if-water-gets-stuck-in-my-ear\/","title":{"rendered":"What Should I Do if Water Gets Stuck in My Ear?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If water becomes trapped in your ear canal, it can lead to a condition known as swimmer\u2019s ear, also called otitis externa. This condition is fairly common; in fact, according to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK556055\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">article<\/a> published in the National Library of Medicine, \u201cApproximately 10% of people will develop otitis externa during their lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In order to prevent swimmer\u2019s ear or a resulting <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/ent\/earache\/\" target=\"_blank\">earache<\/a>, you must remove water from your ears before it can start to grow bacteria. We review how to do this below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What to Do<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/water-ear-ent-1536x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2139\" width=\"-211\" height=\"-141\" srcset=\"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/water-ear-ent-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/water-ear-ent-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/water-ear-ent-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Some strategies for removing water from your ears include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Gently pulling on your earlobe while you tip your head to one side until you feel the water drain out.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Moving your jaw by yawning or chewing gum, again with your head tipped to one side.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lying on your side for a few minutes with your ear resting on a towel.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Cupping your palm over your ear, tipping your head toward the ground, gently pressing and releasing your hand to create a suction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Taking a breath, pinching your nose, closing your mouth and gently exhaling to remove water from your Eustachian tubes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using a hair dryer on the lowest, coolest setting to dry the water in your ears.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Using hydrogen peroxide eardrops mixed with equal parts vinegar and rubbing alcohol. <em>Note: Do not do this if you have an ear infection, a perforated eardrum or ear tubes.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Not to Do<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Under no circumstances should you try to use a Q-tip or cotton swab to try to dry the water in your ears. Doing so poses several risks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>You could push earwax deep into the ear, causing an impaction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You could puncture your eardrum, causing pain, hearing loss, infection and other symptoms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You could scratch away the protective layer inside your eardrum, making you more susceptible to infection.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">When to Contact a Doctor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you still feel as though you have water in your ear after trying the techniques listed above, you experience ear pain or you develop a fever, contact your doctor right away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about swimmer\u2019s ear or <a href=\"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/contact\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to schedule an appointment<\/a> with an ear expert, call ENT &#038; Allergy Specialists &#8211; Ear Nose and Throat Physicians and Surgeons today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[related-posts]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If water becomes trapped in your ear canal, it can lead to a condition known as swimmer\u2019s ear, also called otitis externa. This condition is fairly common; in fact, according to an article published in the National Library of Medicine, \u201cApproximately 10% of people will develop otitis externa during their lifetime.\u201d In order to prevent&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}