Swimmer's ear refers to an often-painful infection of the ear canal. While swimming can certainly correlate to swimmer's ear, the condition refers to water getting into the ear and promoting microbial growth. This can happen through more ways than swimming.
How do you treat swimmer's ear?
Under the care of a mainstream medical professional, ear drops are likely given along with the directive to keep the ear dry.
How do you treat swimmer's ear naturally?
Ear drops will likely be the best resource, though the ingredients can differ from that of an ear formula administered or recommended by a mainstream practitioner. Natural approaches involve formulas utilizing herbs, plants, and botanical extracts and compounds and antibiotics when necessary.
As with conventional medicine, a core objective is to keep the ear dry. Additional water accumulation would further perpetuate the risk of microbial growth in the ear canal.
Can you treat swimmers ear on your own? Can you get rid of swimmer's ear without antibiotics?
Swimmer's ear can go away on its own if the case is not moderate or severe. However, the symptom of pain often elicits people's attention, especially if it's a child affected by swimmer's ear. To manage the pain, professionals are often turned to. Even professionals can help cater to a plan that first avoids antibiotics, turning to them only if necessary. Ask your trusted health care professional if he or she will first honor a no-antibiotic approach.
Can I safely put essential oils in my ear?
Do not put straight-up essential oil of any type in your ear. While tea tree, oregano, clove, and basil oil, among others, are purportedly effective in alleviating ear pain and addressing the bacterial/microbial source of an ear infection or swimmer's ear, they're to be used carefully and with a carrier oil (e.g., olive), not alone.
While ear drops may contain natural and organic ingredients such as essential oils, herbs, extracts, and so forth, those ingredients within a formula are diluted and synergistically formulated to work together in a gentle fashion. Essential oils alone should not be put in the ear; they're far too aggressive and strong and could cause more harm than good.
How do you use essential oil for swimmers ear?
First, let's cite why select essential oils are a viable contender for combating swimmer's ear and ear infections in general, then let's talk on how it's recommended to be administered safely.
Essential oils are volatile and can have good antimicrobial activity. We compared the effects of oil of basil (Ocimum basilicum) and essential oil components (thymol, carvacrol, and salicylaldehyde) to those of a placebo when placed in the ear canal of rats with experimental acute otitis media caused by pneumococci or Haemophilus influenzae. Progress was monitored by otomicroscopic examination and middle ear cultures. The treatment with oil of basil or essential oil components cured or healed 56%-81% of rats infected with H. influenzae and 6%-75% of rats infected with pneumococci, compared with 5.6%-6% of rats in the placebo group. Essential oils or their components placed in the ear canal can provide effective treatment of acute otitis media.
The above-cited study provides that essential oil components shone in performance against the placebo group in rat studies. Assuming we can generalize such findings to human conditions of the ear, such as swimmer's ear, it can likely be inferred that select essential oil components will significantly help allay ear pain and ear infections such as swimmer's ear.
Essential oils must be diluted with a carrier oil. They should be regarded as seriously as if medicine and therefore a trusted health professional is best to defer to for administration and dosage recommendations. As aforementioned, some with natural health inclinations prefer to see if their health care professional will first turn to a natural-, perhaps essential oil-based formula prior to resorting to antibiotics.
What is the fastest way to cure swimmer's ear?
Avoidance, of course. Seek to prevent swimmer's ear.
Swim, bathe, and shower in only clean water.
Be cognizant of the effect ear plugs and ear buds or headphones can have on the ear canal. Whether utilizing them around swim-time or otherwise, they can trap moisture within the ear canals.
If you have a history of getting swimmer's ear, wear a swim cap and block your ears when in the pool.
Drain ears after engaging in water-based activities. Commit to positioning on your side to let the affected ear drain.
Avoid using q-tips to clean ears; they can further push water, ear wax, and microbes into the ear canal.
Consume foods with antibacterial and antimicrobial benefits, such as garlic, oregano, and rosemary.
Modulate your immune system to quickly fight off mild infections by eating whole, clean foods; sleeping well; stressing little; getting sunlight; and taking whole food-based vitamins and minerals, if necessary.
Have you had swimmer's ear before? What was your experience with it?
