How to keep ears dry on a liveaboard? AKA how not to get swimmers ear?
- Thread starter Texasguy
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In the past I've had bad ear problems. In the pool I use Doc's Pro Plugs. Elsewhere the hood does the same job-preventing water from going DEEP into ears. In the tropics I used a swimmer's cap in lieu of either. After most dives now I use ear drops--they work within an hour for me.
I thought that I knew all about ears until I actually got a bad case of swimmer's ear myself..!
I remember once treating the mom of one of my patients for a really bad swimmer's ear, that extended out onto the pinna (the part that sticks out of the head). Not only did we need to admit her for IV antibiotics, she needed one of those morphine pumps. She said that it was worse than childbirth.
daz88
Contributor
most people it's not an issue. who ever invented Q-tips is my friend. 
I just use those to dry a little bit of the salt water after the dives & a ice cold beer to flush out the salt water taste out of my mouth.
I just use those to dry a little bit of the salt water after the dives & a ice cold beer to flush out the salt water taste out of my mouth.
I use to make an ENT trip once a year. I was unhappy with one guy so I went to a different one around trip 3 or 4. We discussed root cause. I mentioned the Mack's dryer. I do a lot of freshwater diving and I don't know if it's worse than salt, but not only were the ear events painful, they cost me a couple of weeks of diving and the cost of treatment.
Since I do trips that are a weekend long and week long with multiple dives per day, I didn't like the idea of putting the drops in my ear that frequently. The doc said that he wasn't familiar with the Macks that it should address the problem. At the time those units were going for $100. I found one at Wal or K mart on clearance for $45. I haven't been to the ENT since. My cave diving buddies give me unlimited grief when I use it between dives, but I use it.
Since I do trips that are a weekend long and week long with multiple dives per day, I didn't like the idea of putting the drops in my ear that frequently. The doc said that he wasn't familiar with the Macks that it should address the problem. At the time those units were going for $100. I found one at Wal or K mart on clearance for $45. I haven't been to the ENT since. My cave diving buddies give me unlimited grief when I use it between dives, but I use it.
One other thing... if you have a lot of impacted earwax, it is helpful to have that removed, because it tends to trap water and make swimmer's ear more likely.
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