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AniaR
08-26-2011, 10:50 PM
Im wondering if anyone else out there has as much trouble with their ears in water as I do? Im the only mer I think her wears silicone in her ears! lol

I always had ear infections as a kid and was always sick. I got tubes in my ears and this helped, but every single time I got them wet, even from the shower or crying- I'd get horrible infections.

As an adult I still get infections whenever I get my ears wet. They have a tiny bit more tolerance than before. I wear silicone puddy in my ears after stopping in to a dive shop and talking to them about it. They said it's good so long as I dont go too deep then the pressure will get me. In a standard backyard or recreational pool they work perfectly. I never go any deeper then 6-10 feet at a time and that's about perfect for me. But I feel so limited having to wear them.

I can't easily pop my ears either underwater, on land, or on planes. I swallow lots, chew gum, whatever I need to but usually if I'm on a plane I have to take decongestants (even though Im not sick) to sorta keep things moving along.

I've considered talking to my doc about this stuff- but I have so many more serious issues this one is pretty low on the list.

I'd really like to learn to scuba one day but I think it would be impossible right now. Even wearing my ear plugs if I flip on to my back underwater it creates painful pressure so I'm still limited!

Anyone else with painful ears? Anyone have any suggestions?

Mermaid Saphira
08-26-2011, 11:12 PM
You're NOT alone! I have to wear googles, ear plugs AND and nose plug! LOL! Don't worry about your ears, i got the whole deal!

MermaidAubrin
08-26-2011, 11:45 PM
there are these things called ear candels that my mom used to use on me basically the are candles for your ears that help stop infections and makes your ears stop hurting alot but defintly read the instructions and have some one do it for you because it does involve fire
heres an example
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IEBB1U/ref=asc_df_B000IEBB1U1681494?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=asn&creative=395093&creativeASIN=B000IEBB1U

melbel1023
08-27-2011, 12:49 AM
When I was a kid, I had swimmer's ear for three months after leaving summer camp. After that, I use a small dropper amount of peroxide in each ear. It helps dissolve the chlorine.

Mermaid Lorelei
09-16-2011, 12:25 AM
I have had horrible swimmer's ear for most of my life (close to what it sounds like you have Raina) and the only thing I've found that helps is putting a small droper of apple cider vinegar in my ears. It works about the same as melbel's peroxide would, but the apple cider vinegar is also known for helping clear out colds and infections along with the excess water. If I remember to do this after I swim, I don't develop any sort of swimmer's ear at all. It's wonderful. As for the in water feelings, I'm afraid I haven't figured anything out for that yet.
Hope this helps!

Gem Stone
02-01-2012, 12:01 PM
I am a diver and I also have issues clearing my ears underwater. Clearing means getting your ears to the same pressure as the water around you. It doesn't hurt as bad when I free dive, but clearing your ears GENTLY is Definately the best thing to do. All you do is pinch your nose and GENTLY breathe into your plugged nose. This causes air to travel to your ears and level out the pressure if you do it right. You may have to do this several times depending on how deep you go and each person is different. If I can clear my ears down to twenty feet while diving, I will never have to do it again for that dive. My mom has to clear her ears every five feet. My dad never has to. Each person is different

Gem Stone
02-01-2012, 12:06 PM
You must be careful not to over do it or you will get what is called a reverse squeeze and that is the most painful thing and dangerous to get while free diving. When you have a revers squeeze, you can't go up or down and you have to stay right there until your ears fix themselves. While free diving, this can cause you to drown or blow your eardrums, but most of the time it clears within a few seconds and you are safe. Again, GENTLY and you will never get a revers squeeze. I have only had one once and it was my stupidity that led to it in the first place. Also, be sure to listen to your body. Sometimes, your head will hurt near your ears but your ears themselves won't hurt. My ears don't hurt as bad when I go free diving and I'm nt sure why. I can free dive 25 feet in a tail without clearing my ears,but I can't go 5 feet when diving before I have to clear them. Good luck!

AniaR
02-03-2012, 03:58 PM
yeah Im really hoping to get some good practice in when I go to Florida, this really inhibits me. I wonder if there's a surgery I could have?

Mermaid Mako
03-13-2012, 11:55 AM
yeah Im really hoping to get some good practice in when I go to Florida, this really inhibits me. I wonder if there's a surgery I could have?

Practice seemed to help a certain someone I know--who hopefully doesn't mind me mentioning this ^_^;

She had inner ear pressure when diving below 6ish feet in the deep end of the pool, and our goal is to get her to touch the drain in an 11 ft deep pool, painlessly. Maybe she can add more specifics about what she was feeling if she reads this. I did scuba for a while so I tried explaining how to equalize pressure like Gem Stone explained, and also to wiggle your bottom jaw back and forth, etc--all the tricks I knew and they weren't working to great, so I remembered what I used to do as a kid...

I'm not going to say this will work for everybody--and I have no idea if it would be ok if you have tubes in your ears...but what we started doing is going to the pool ladder in the deep area of the pool, and holding our breath and hanging onto a step, and just "hanging out" at that level underwater for a while holding our breath, but not to long as to exhaust ourselves. When she felt she was comfortable at a step, we repeated it for a while, and moved down a step on the ladder where she might feel a bit of discomfort while trying to equalize, but not to much. After a while, she was able to hang out eye-level at the bottom rung of the ladder, with no discomfort. She didn't make it to the drain yet, but she made sizable progress in one night to at least 8 feet. ^_^

Mermaid Mako
03-13-2012, 12:02 PM
yeah Im really hoping to get some good practice in when I go to Florida, this really inhibits me. I wonder if there's a surgery I could have?

Practice seemed to help a certain someone I know--who hopefully doesn't mind me mentioning this ^_^;

She had inner ear pressure when diving below 6ish feet in the deep end of the pool, and our goal is to get her to touch the drain in an 11 ft deep pool, painlessly. Maybe she can add more specifics about what she was feeling if she reads this. I did scuba for a while so I tried explaining how to equalize pressure like Gem Stone explained, and also to wiggle your bottom jaw back and forth, etc--all the tricks I knew and they weren't working to great, so I remembered what I used to do as a kid...

I'm not going to say this will work for everybody--and I have no idea if it would be ok if you have tubes in your ears...but what we started doing is going to the pool ladder in the deep area of the pool, and holding our breath and hanging onto a step, and just "hanging out" at that level underwater for a while holding our breath, but not to long as to exhaust ourselves. When she felt she was comfortable at a step, we repeated it for a while, and moved down a step on the ladder where she might feel a bit of discomfort while trying to equalize, but not to much. After a while, she was able to hang out eye-level at the bottom rung of the ladder, with no discomfort. She didn't make it to the drain yet, but she made sizable progress in one night to at least 8 feet. ^_^

Sitre Seer Moroaica
05-12-2012, 02:47 AM
I think the worst I've had was the other night swimming with my niece for her birthday. The pool I'm allowed to swim at goes up to 12' I decided before I left to swimming all the way down, touch the floor (in my tail) and swim back up. OMG!!! The WORST ear pains I have EVER felt... My poor niece was trying to talk to me and all I could do was tell her to wait and minute because of how much pain I was feeling. I guess there is a certain way to pop your ears when going in deep waters but I have no idea at the time (I found out by my dad) and it just made me rush back up to the surface....I wonder if ear plugs would help with this but I'd love to know how to keep it from happening again.

lasserine
05-12-2012, 03:28 AM
When scuba diving, you would hold your nose and blow. It works well.