How to protect your ears?

[Echidna]

Greetings Merfolk.

As a new aspiring mermaid, I've come across a dire problem.
I've read the sticky about the negative effects of chlorine on eyes, hair, skin and tails;
but what about the ears?

After my last underwater swim (all in all maybe an hour spent underwater) in a chlorinated pool,
my eyes were pretty irritated (I hate goggles & caps), and both my ears seemed to have taken a bit of water.
Normally not a big problem, but 2 days after the swim, I got an otitis, and have now to wait until it's gone before I can swim again :(

So.
Should I try to put oil into the ears as well before swimming?
How do you fare with your ears?
Would it be better to avoid swimming in public pools altogether?

[Mermaid Dottie]

I usually don't get ear infections unless I go diving without earplugs. Diving too deep puts pressure on my ears and I get earaches and infections from the water being pressed into them. I would go find some earplugs for swimming.
On a side note, there are some goggles out there called swedish that are practically invisible.
10986
Lei Loni picked some up recently, and she let me try out the "sunglasses" pair. Way nice, and I despise goggles with the passion of a thousand waves. The clear ones are barely noticeable when you see them on someone, and if you buy a clear/flesh-tone strap and maybe take time to hide it under your hair... baboom! Underwater visibility.

[MermaidBrittany]

These look awesome :) Where would you buy them?

[Echidna]

ah yes, those nearly invisible Malmsten goggles ;)
I actually got me a pair, just in case.
Not sure whether they stay really waterproof though, since they have no rubber edge.

I've been thinking about ear plugs, and heard that they are really dangerous for your eardrums since they won't allow equalization and extend when you resurface, putting pressure on your eardrums.
How do you get around that?

Some people put oiled pads into their ears, but i don't know...
I hadn't dived too deep either, it was just a 2m-pool and I went to the bottom maybe 3 times or so.

I really wonder how people manage to dive really deep in the ocean (you know, whale and dolphin footage) without any accessories?
(earplugs would be invisible though I guess :D )

[Arella]

For water I use swimmers ear after a long swim/dive

[AniaR]

I've been very successful using silicone puddy ear plugs. You can shape them, they're long lasting, not pricey, and you can safely use them for the majority of pool parties/events mermaids do. Once you go past a certain point however in depth, it can damage your ears to have them in however. I'm not exactly sure of the exact depth number but I suspects it's different for individuals and their tolerance for equalizing. I don't go past 15ft depth wise, ever. So they work fine for me. I follow them up with ear drops too. I get ear infections way too easily.

[AptaMer]

You could think about trying these special plugs http://www.proplugs.com/scubadiving.shtml

The were reviewed positively here http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/318337-docs-proplugs-review.html

but not so positively here http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/314276-do-vented-ear-plugs-work-topic-comes-up-often.html

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/articles/Unplugged_Use_of_Earplugs_In_Scuba_Divers

Note that researchers for the US Navy found some years ago that vinegar can cut the incidence of ear infections dramatically.

[Aziara]

For water I use swimmers ear after a long swim/dive
^this. A few drops of rubbing alcohol in each ear after a swim would have the same effect. It dries up the water, so you don't get infections.

[Mermaid Melanie]

If you wear ear plugs and dive down to any depth you can cause damage to your ears as you are unable to equalise the air space due to it being blocked. This can result in serious barotrauma and result in no more diving ! As a diver I am in and out of the water non stop ! I always rinse my ears with fresh water after any pool swim or open water dive etc. This tends to work for most - if you are unlucky enough to get an infection try using Taravid Eardrops they work wonders and within a few hours your ears should be back to normal.

[Echidna]

thanks everyone! ear drops it is :) vinegar might be worth a shot too. Happy swimming!

[Mermaid Dottie]

These look awesome :) Where would you buy them?
Big 5 has them, most dive shops should, and you can definitely find them on the web.

[AptaMer]

vinegar might be worth a shot too.

If you try vinegar use pure white distilled vinegar, and don't use it straight from the bottle.

White vinegar in the bottle is 5% or 6% acetic acid, You should use 2% or 2.5% acetic acid, which means diluting the vinegar down 2x or 3x.

Information can be gotten here http://jcm.asm.org/content/15/5/855.full.pdf

There's a lot of info about avoiding ear infections here too http://www.divewithsus.com/tips/ear.html

[Mermaid Pickles]

My mom makes a solution out of tap water, a little bit of white vinegar, and a little bit of rubbing alcohol, and we put that in out ears after we swim. She started doing that when my sister got ear infections after swim lessons when she was younger. I'm the only one who goes swimming now, though.