Help! I can't hear. (Don't read at dinner)

Aqua Ear works but the trick is to put it in before you go in the water. This prevents most of the water from getting in.

I used to get blocked after most seshions but now i do the above and not only does it stop the water getting in,

after time it totally cleans your ears out so when water does get in it self drains out.

after having problems for years now my ears are totally clean.

over summer I had 3 ear infections in 3 months from kiting. each time they packed me full of drugs and sent me on my merry way. I got another one a couple of weeks ago and saw a different doctor and she told me to apply 1 drop of oil (cooking not motor) in my ear at night and put a damp, warm cloth on my ears when I went to bed. a week later its better then ever. she said If I do it once a week or after a big session I shouldnt get anymore. also eating nuts every day will help. not sure how true the nuts thing is but shes a doc so its worth a try. honestly the oil and warm cloth works a treat!!!

Here's what happened with me:

1. Tried to get appointment with doctor - none available for days / week
2. Went to a different doctor, sat around for 2 hours after my appointment time, waiting! 'Just a small amount of wax and debris, should be ok, use waxol, etc'
3. If small amt, worried about chemicals, etc so decided to try Sassall's drops.
4. Ordered a couple as cheaper that way - burned both ear canals unbearably when I put them in, had to try to wash them out.
5. Darren Sassall called back in response to my email - seems when the canals are inflamed, the alcohol in his drops will burn. OK, keep them for more maintenance and see.
6. Got ears checked again (a few days wait again) at regular doctor. 'Just a small amount of wax and debris...etc'. So went to get waxol.
7. Worse. Water trapped all the time now - almost completely deaf. Wait a few days again for an appointment with the GP.
8. Ear canals are inflamed, more wax and debris. Started on Sofradex drops 5d.
9. Better, not as much water getting trapped or deafness, stopped drops at 5d (had 2 surfs in this period)
10. Getting worse again and I haven't even been in the water or put anything in it - can't hear, ringing noise, slightly uncomfortable. Stuff this! Not getting anywhere with the GP so try to get a referral - finally spoke to GP after 5d of calling back and forth.
11. Called specialist but no appointment till September!!?? Back to GP to find another. Also PM'd Turtlehunter to see if he will recommend / remember the name of his. Anyone else?

....watch this space

Guess I can be happy I didn't get my ears candled!!

I find it pretty good for most things

Seriously though I agree 100% with those warning on ear-waxing treatments. Not good.

hydrogen peroxide is the way to go. when i was working in a dive shop we had bottles all over the place. you just fill your ear up, let it sit for a few seconds then tip it out. you can buy it over the counter its cheap. once you get home from your kite and u'r dried out use it then.
good luck

yep ear candles are a hoax

I have had the lumps ground out of one ear, and if necessary I will get the other one done if I get infections.
I've been using a rinse of a couple of tee spoons of white vinegar in a glass of water, and flush my ears using a squeeze pump thing you can buy at the chemist.
That was the instructions from the ENT that did my operation, and I haven't had a problem since. He said that the vinegar will neutralise or kill and bugs that will get in your ear. The aqua ear just dries out any of the gunk in your ear, and it forms a scale or coating, It gradually builds up in thickness.

If I get any soreness, I just flush it morning and night and it's gone in a day or so.

When they operated on my ear, they went straight in and broke the skin, and ground it down. I had to have my ear plugged for a few weeks while it healed, and had to keep it dry to prevent infection.

They can go in by cutting behind the ear, and lifting the skin up off the lump, and grinding it down, then laying the skin back down, then stitching the skin at the back of the ear up again, that way there is less fear of infection, and it heals faster.
But in my case it was too close to the ear drum, and there was a risk of perforating the ear drum if they went too far, so it was safer to do it where they could see.

All good now.

I wouldn't get just one set of advice though, 2 or 3 for reassurance, especially if they are going to break the skin.
Just because you have a medical degree doesn't mean you know what you're doing.

Good Luck!

If anyone's still interested... and at risk of carrying on about my health issues like an old person....

I can hear!!! I think I finally got my ears sorted - about 2 months after!! They did a hearing test too

I managed to get squeezed in to Dr Francis Chai (ENT) at 51 Colin Street, West Perth this week. Tel: 9481-1238.

To Conclude:

WAX and FLUSHING
1. He removed the wax by picking it out of one ear and flush/suction in the other.
(The GPs / nurse does not have suction or apparently the ability to recognise when there is a wax plug over the ear drum which needed suction.)
2. Waxol left me with a serious reaction and I've heard this from others too.
3. Don't even go near an ear candle

EXOSTOSES AND PREVENTION
1. He confirmed I do have exostoses - despite 2 out of 3 GPs saying I didn't!
2. It traps water next to the ear drum also
3. Alcohol based drying ear drops may be a better compromise than leaving water sitting in your ear and getting infections etc. Will report back on Sassall's Ear Drops.
4. I'll also be trying to plug my ears with Blue Tack (Zoogs Silicon Putty for swimmers did not seal it enough. I also wear a helmet / ear coverings).

COSTS AND REFERRALS
1. Ear drops / wax remedies are about $15-25 each. Blue Tack?
2. GP visits were about $40 after the Medicare rebate (x3 = $120 total)
3. Specialist $400 (but should get about 60% back from Medicare - does health insurance cover any??)
4. It will take at least 2 visits to a GP to get a referral, then it can be a real runaround to get a specialist to see you soon - and you hope they will be a good one!
5. I can supposedly get revisits for a year on this Referral now, partly covered by Medicare.
6. Surgery to bore out your ears?? Megabucks I'm sure.

I hope this helps all of you out there, especially to prevent exostoses - and thanks for those videos guys. I'm not going to think twice about the extra few minutes it takes to plug my ears when I'm rushing to get out on the water. Keep well people and stay away from the knife!

Similar issues here.

As a surfer for 20+ years and kiter for 10 years I noticed in the past year increasing instances of an inability to get water out of my ear.

GP had a look and didn't see anything particularly noticeable. I'd even had a two full hearing assessments in the past three years (one by an ENT) and no one even mentioned anything untoward.

This time when I saw an ENT specialist he had a look and immediately said "You have severe exostoses in both ears. Surfer's Ear."

He cleaned out all the trapped gunk with a miniature vacuum cleaner and everything felt normal again.

But wait, there's more:

Normally, your ear canal is the diameter of your little finger. Currently one of my ears has an opening of 1mm and the other less than 1mm. It will eventually close completely, making hearing in that ear impossible. That makes me a prime candidate for surgery in the next 12 months if I want to continue to hear.

After going home and doing a great deal or research, I discovered a significant issue:

In Australia, as far as I can tell, all surgeries for exostoses removal are done with a drill, not dissimilar to a dentists drill. You can watch the surgery on any number of YouTube videos -- and it is nasty. Had a chat with a mate who'd just had it done and he's out of the water for several months and said it was pretty gnarly.

I ultimately discovered a surgeon in California, Dr. Douglas Hetzler (as identified above by "ksbsurf") who has developed a far less invasive technique using a 1-2mm chisel tool to remove the exostoses from the ear canal in a way that is superficially similar to chipping barnacles off a boat. The technique is now widely used in America in preference to the drill technique for a number of reasons.

Risks are far lower (e.g., one of the dangers of the drill method is hearing damage from the 130db noise of the drill during the 1+hour surgery, and there is risk of eardrum perforation by the drill, amongst other risks.) Additionally, healing time is much reduced using the chisel method.

Go here to see a video of the surgery.
www.pamf.org/ENT/services/surfersear.html
(Scroll to the bottom of the page)

Problem is, I have been unable to identify any surgeons in Australia using this technique and after several conversations with Dr. Hetzler in California he was also unaware of anyone here who has adopted the technique, despite a presentation he made at an ENT conference in Cairns several years ago and despite the procedure being used successfully in America many thousands of times.

SO, if you are finding yourself in a position of requiring surgery, ask your ENT why they are not learning this technique. Surely, with the number of operations in Australia for Surfer's Ear numbering in what must be the thousands every year, there is clearly an incentive for SOMEONE to learn it here.

For the technically-inclined, I've posted a copy of Dr. Hetzler's journal paper on the procedure on my web page if you want to have a read.

http://www.kitesurfing.com.au/surfersear

Just a footnote here--do yourself a favour and stay away from ear candles and other fringe-dwelling techniques. Most of it is nonsense but, at worst, some of it can be downright dangerous.

See a qualified ENT and find out what is going on so you can make an informed decision based on evidence, not speculation.

Let's see if collectively we can get the ENT community to come around to the 21st century and learn this new way of dealing with an issue that is no doubt endemic in our community.

Cheers,

Rob

P.S. Surgery costs for the drill technique are in the $5,000/ear ballpark...Ouch.

Another ENT in perth is Dr Phillip Beinart, I saw him a couple years ago. You need a referral from your GP, but he sorted my ears out.

He kites as well or did when I last saw him, so he undestands you wanting to get back on the water quick!

"The Facts on Earwax

You might wonder about earwax and whether it needs to be cleaned out. Actually, even though earwax seems yucky, it serves a purpose. Your ear canal makes earwax to protect the ear. After it is produced, it slowly makes its way to the opening of the ear. Then it either falls out or is removed when you wash. If you want, you can clean the opening of your ear gently with a washcloth.

There's an old saying that you shouldn't put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear. Not all old sayings are true, but this one is! You can hurt your ear by poking around in there. It's not even a good idea to use a cotton swab. This can push wax deeper in your ear, where it can get stuck. Irritating the ear canal with a cotton swab can even lead to an ear canal infection."kidshealth.org/en/kids/ear-care.html

"It is now official, you shouldn't clean your ears with a Q-tip. The American Academy of Otolaryngology, aka physicians who specialize in treating issues involving the ear, nose and throat (ENT), have issued clinical guidelines about cleaning your ears. To put it simply, don't stick anything in your ear that is smaller than your elbow.

Earwax, although not so attractive, is important to the health of your ears. The wax is a self-cleaning agent that also has protective properties. "www.fitsugar.com/Do-You-Still-Use-Q-tips-Clean-Your-Ears-1921166

"There are some people that swear by sticking a cotton swab (Q-Tip) into their ears to remove excess wax and debris. Anyone in the medical field can tell you, they have seen many catastrophes resulting from using cotton swabs. From punctured ear drums to super impacted wax, there are many negative consequences associated with "do-it-yourself" ear cleaning." www.healthyhearing.com/content/articles/Hearing-loss/Causes/47773-Swab-hearing-loss


All through childhood I lived in the water with ear infections. My mother taught me to clean my ears with a Q-Tip. She even said I was getting infections cause I wasn't cleaning them enough. I have been on antibiotics about 12 times for ear infections. I had to use alcohol in my ears to dry them after swimming or risk an infection. In fact I have had ear infections more that 12 times, maybe 30-40 times and would use alcohol to sterilize the ear.

5 years ago I stopped cleaning my ears, haven't used alcohol or had a problem since. Occasionally a lump of wax (small) will just fall out.

Now get this my mother who I speak to regularly, who still cleans her ears religiously, has just started swimming to maintain her health in old age. She is getting ear infections and asked me for advise:-)

Millions of years of evolution, just think before you "clean" them. Oh and ask a dermatologist about "soap".