Badotitis earache after bathing

Badotitis is easy to prevent

07/04/2013

For many, the most beautiful time of the year starts now: Summer time means holiday time and thus big and small sunbathers are looking for the proximity to the water again. With the bath time but also the high season for auditory canal inflammation, the so-called Badeotitis begins. To ensure that bathing fun does not end suddenly with earache, enthusiastic swimmers are best protected from infections by simple means. Regular rinsing of the ear canals with clear water after swimming and subsequent drying with a hair dryer prevents germ colonization.

„During swimming and bathing, a warm, humid climate develops in the ear, which promotes an external auditory canal inflammation, ie the inflammation of the skin between the auricle and the eardrum. Bacteria present in the water reach the ears while bathing. If the water then remains in the ear canal, it softens the skin and germs penetrate easier“, explains Dr. Uso Walter, Duisburg ENT doctor and CEO of HNOnet NRW, what exactly happens. „The normal germ flora is thus changed by possibly pathogenic germs and an inflammation arises, the so-called Badeotitis.“ Those who often get water in their ears also flush out the protective earwax film and the risk of inflammation increases. First symptoms range from itching to sometimes severe earache. Later, sometimes purulent or bloody secretions from the affected ear are added. The skin of the ear canal is reddened in some cases, swollen, dry and scaly or moist. If auditory canals become blocked, hearing may even be impaired.

Affected ones look best at the first signs an ear, nose and throat doctor. He examines and cleans the ear if necessary. It is also possible that gauze strips soaked in medications are used in the auditory canal. If necessary, doctors prescribe antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drops and, if necessary, analgesics. But also on naturopathic therapies such as neural therapies and phytotherapies use ENT doctors in ear infections. „As a rule, the bathtitis then heals within a few days without complications. Important at this time: always keep your ears dry“, commented Walter.

Everyone can prevent by simple measures. Best to do without the bath in polluted waters. If you also want to swim there, seal your ears with plugs or Vaseline-enriched cotton during the bath time. Rinsing the ear canals with clear water after swimming and then drying with a hair dryer also help to prevent the bathtitis. Since even the smallest injuries in the ear canal favor the inflammation, affected persons should avoid scratching in ears with the fingernail as well as other pointed objects or cleaning them with cotton buds. Such injuries not only lead to ear canal infections during the bathing season. The same applies to the excessive cleaning with shampoo or soap. This increases the ph value in the ear canal and destroys the protective environment. (Pm)