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Water in the ear - That's how it comes out again
contents
- A maze
- How to remove the water?
- How can I get my hearing back??
- prevention
- Home remedy for water in the ear
- ear rhinitis
- self-protection
A maze
We speak of auditory canal, and yet designate it with two different ways: The inner ear canal is completely protected by the ear canal, the outer partially. These passages are angled, and the eardrum is a small depression. A healthy eardrum does not let water through, and the fluid accumulates in front of it.
Water in the ear: When the water stops coming out of the ear. These remedies can help. Image: D.R. - fotolia If much earwax has formed, then additional "puddles" are created. The lard prevents the water from running off, can even swell up through the liquid and clog the auditory canal.
How to remove the water?
When our ear is blocked, most of us resort to cotton swabs. However, these are regarded as no-go by ear, nose and throat doctors: The cotton wool stays stuck in the auditory canal quickly and thus aggravates the problem. Just when it gets wet through the water, it dissolves easily from sticks, and the added attraction of cotton wool particles increases the risk of infection.
We should also avoid pencils, paper clips or ballpoint pen refills. We can hurt the sensitive ear canals with it.
It makes more sense to use a strange method: We pull our ears backwards and forwards, set a hair dryer to a low level and blow in warm air. This is how the water dries out.
How can I get my hearing back??
Water in the ear often causes us to hear noises with the affected ear only muffled. This usually disappears by itself. However, if this feeling persists, we can regain our hearing with simple means.
It looks strange, but it helps: we jump, we turn and we shake our heads. Although this does not usually lead to success immediately after a few hours, the water is usually outside. If we have to repeat the exercises, it's because of the complicated ear canals. They have several turns that the water has to overcome.
But if the water does not escape, we should go to the ENT specialist. Then earwax has probably accumulated, which is additionally swollen by the water.
prevention
In order not to let water get into the ear at all, we can put reusable plastic pegs in it. However, let's keep away from foam rubber stoppers. Although they dampen the noise at concerts, for example, they are soaked with water. More useful are pegs made of silicone.
Preventive may be earplugs. Image: Robert Przybysz - fotolia We can dry our ears after swimming with a fluffy towel so that no water can collect at all. We bend our heads to the side and shake the excess water out.
Home remedy for water in the ear
A solution of rubbing alcohol and white vinegar in the ratio 1 to 1 helps against water in the ear and against infection. Using a pipette, we drip the solution into the affected ear and then drain the liquid.
The acid breaks up the earwax and thus removes the obstacles that accumulate in the water. The alcohol dries out the water and helps it evaporate faster.
We can also create a vacuum by pressing a hand on the appropriate ear. We press and release the pressure alternately until the water runs out. The ear should point downwards. Suction creates a vacuum.
We carefully dab the ear with a dry cloth. This takes up water. But we should not press the cloth like a cotton swab into the ear, because with it we may even press the water into the ear.
We can also bend our heads to the side so that the water runs out, pull on the earlobe to open the ear or place our ears down on the bed, so that the gravitational pull naturally drains the water.
Chewing helps to dissolve the water when it is trapped in the Eustachian tubes. Yawning also moves the facial muscles and can drain the water.
Strong yawning can help. (Image: pathdoc / fotolia.de) Often it helps to cleanse the nose. The resulting pressure is then enough to push water out of the ear canal.
ear rhinitis
Otitis media affects the area between the eardrum and the inner ear, the eardrum, the tympanic cavity, the three auditory ossicles and the Eustachian tube. If the Eustachian tube is damaged, then there is a negative pressure, which leads to a vacuum and the mucous membrane reacts by secretion of a secretion. The result is fluid in the ear.
An acute middle ear infection is triggered by viruses or bacteria. More critical is a tympanic effusion, the serous otitis media. Affected are often children, so we speak of glue ear. This form can even become chronic, so last more than six weeks. Fluid forms in the middle ear again and again and after a while becomes a tough mucus - the "glue".
The acute middle ear infection usually follows a cold. The ear feels as if it is clogged, or as if we had enormous pressure on the ear, like on a plane or diving. But if the cold is over, the symptoms in the ear will also fade away.
But hearing loss, earache, fever, nausea, tinnitus and especially wetness in the ear are among the symptoms.
Infants show that they suffer from otitis media by pulling on their ears, screaming, losing their appetite, high fever, fluid seeping from the ear, their balance is disturbed and they hear badly.
Almost 9 out of 10 children suffer from this disease at least once. Their ears and their immune system are still growing, their eustachian tubes are shorter and therefore the fluid can not drain. At the same time, they are more likely to suffer from inflammation than adults.
Parents can not completely prevent middle ear infection, but they can reduce certain stimuli: they should stop smoking in the presence of the child, wash their hands frequently when they touch the child, and prevent the child from coming in contact with the sick. Antibiotics prevent acute from becoming a chronic inflammation.
Usually, otitis media is not dramatic. The middle ear heals itself excellent, and even a damaged eardrum heals again.
self-protection
The outer ear canal protects itself against pathogens. The earwax removes water in moderation and absorbs dirt. Bacteria can hardly spread through the acidic environment in the ear.
But if we stay in the water for a long time, the skin of the external auditory canal becomes permeable and the fat protection dissolves. Chlorine in the swimming pool and salt in the sea water accelerate this dissolution. In addition, many bacteria are resistant to chlorinated water and are particularly prevalent in swimming pools.
When the protection in the ear cans dissipates, pathogens have an easy time. Swimmers, surfers and beach vacationers therefore often suffer from an external ear infection, doctors therefore refer to this disease as a "diving tube".
In such an Ottis externa, those affected feel an itch and are sensitive to touch, followed by severe pain, accompanied by a pull on the pinna and a squeezing sensation on the cartilage in front of the ear canal. The skin there reddens and swells and a cloudy secretion covers the outer ear.
While not dangerous, this infection is extremely painful. Therefore, painkillers such as ibuprofen or paracetamol are in demand. It also helps to cool the ear, for example with damp rags or ice cubes.
An ENT doctor cleans the affected ear with a special suction device, but never with foreign bodies such as a cotton bud.
Instead, he puts a strip of gauze with medication into the ear canal and renews it regularly. If the swelling goes back, then ear drops follow. Antibiotics such as ciproflaxacin, bacitracin and polymyxin-B help the ear canal to decongest. If the eardrum is damaged, gauze strips with alcohol are recommended.
The simplest way to prevent both ear infection and water, which penetrates from the outside of the ear, is a bathing cap. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)