Anyone who has gone swimming and submerged their head knows what it feels like to have water stuck in your ear. It’s not painful, it just feels like someone has muffled the sound in the affected ear. Usually, you can just tip your head to one side until your hearing goes back to normal, but sometimes a little bit of water will stay behind without you realizing it. This water can create a breeding ground for bacteria, and it’s this bacteria that causes an infection known as swimmer’s ear.
If you think you or your children have swimmer’s ear, don’t panic. It’s a very common bacterial infection, especially in young kids, and it’s usually easy to treat and identify. You’ll want to talk to your doctor, to make sure you get the medicine you need, but it’s not something you will have to get tests or imaging for. Treatment is easy, too, and with the proper care, the infection will usually go away in a few days.
While it’s easy to self-diagnose swimmer’s ear, you do need to be aware of any symptoms you might be feeling. Identifying these symptoms will help you determine whether you should seek medical help or stick with over-the-counter ear drops.
1. Ear Pain
Ear pain is the most obvious symptom of swimmer’s ear. Mild discomfort will likely be the symptom you notice first, and as the infection gets worse, the pain will intensify. If your ear starts to hurt, don’t jump to the immediate conclusion that swimmer’s ear is the problem. You need to consider the circumstances. Think about the last time water was near your ear canals, if you remember getting water stuck in your ear, or if there are any other factors that might have caused the discomfort you’re feeling.
It’s also important to pay attention to where the pain is coming from. Swimmer’s ear affects your outer ear canal, which means the pain will be located closer to the outside of your ear. Your whole outer ear may end up hurting when touched, too. If the pain feels like it’s coming deep within your ear or between your inner ear and throat, it’s likely you have an ear infection instead of swimmer’s ear. Treatments for the two types of infection differ, so talk to your doctor if you’re not sure which you have. They will be able to advise you further.
2. Hearing Loss
Another sign of swimmer’s ear is hearing loss. You’re not going to go completely deaf, but the infected ear will be harder to hear from as your ear canal swells and gunk starts to clog it. The sound will be like having water in your ear, with the sound being muffled and difficult to understand.
Hearing loss on its own isn’t going to be enough to definitively diagnose swimmer’s ear. This is because hearing loss is a common symptom of multiple kinds of ear infections, not just swimmer’s ear. To be most effective, hearing loss needs to be assessed in conjunction with other symptoms.
3. Itching
Itching can be one of the more aggravating symptoms because not scratching an itch can feel like torture. If your ear becomes itchy, don’t scratch it no matter how tempting it may be. If you scratch your ear, you run the risk of making the infection worse or otherwise damaging your inner ear, especially if you start sticking things in your ear to try and relieve the itch.
If it becomes too unbearable for you or the one infected, talk to your doctor about what options there may be to provide itch relief. You don’t want to use something that may interfere with recovery or make things worse, after all.
4. Redness
Another fairly obvious symptom of outer ear infection is if the outside of the ear is red around the canal. If the tissue around a suspected infection becomes red and swollen, it can be a pretty good indicator that something is wrong. This redness will often worsen as an infection gets worse. The area will likely be tender to touch, especially the closer you get to the canal.
If you notice redness or swelling around the outer ear, be sure to note any other symptoms you have. If your skin is tender but your ear is otherwise fine, be sure to check for bug bites or anything else that could be the cause.
5. Tenderness in the Ear
Before any full-blown pain happens, your ear canal will likely feel tender. There may or may not be redness accompanying the tender feeling, but using q-tips or otherwise touching the area nearest the canal will almost certainly cause some amount of discomfort. Like with the redness symptom, check for anything else that may be causing the tenderness. This is especially important if there aren’t any other signs or if the only other noticeable one is swelling near the pain.
Also be sure not to poke or scratch at the tender area too much, as you can make an infection worse if you’re not careful.
6. Feeling of Fullness in the Ear
It might be difficult to tell if your ear feels full or not because it’s not the easiest symptom to describe. If your ear feels clogged, like there’s a bunch of earwax blocking the canal, or sounds get muffled, it’s likely this is a symptom of swimmer’s ear.
Having the sensation of something stuck in your ear can be a frustrating feeling, and while you can try to clear out any earwax to see if it helps, be careful. You’ll want to very gently use a q-tip if you absolutely need to try to clear out your ear. Don’t stick anything else in your ear, and don’t try to stick the q-tip too far in or you could seriously damage your eardrum.
7. Ear Discharge
Lastly, ear discharge is another one of the signs that you may have swimmer’s ear. The pus that will drain from the ear will most likely be clear or yellowish, though it is possible that it may smell bad or be slightly bloody. Your ears discharge may cause a crusty layer to form around your ear canal. In the event this is the case, don’t pick it or try to clear it away with force.
If the color of the discharge worries you, contact your doctor. They will be able to identify the cause of the discharge and advise you on whether it’s caused by something more severe than swimmer’s ear.
