How to Treat Swimmer's Ear With a Home Remedy of Water and Vinegar
Swimmer's ear is a painful and uncomfortable condition that occurs as a result of frequent swimming. Formally known as otitis externa - an infection of the outer ear - swimmer's ear occurs when bacteria and fungus grows in the ear canal due to the moisture that remains in the ear after swimming. This outer ear infection leads to inflammation and earache. Fortunately, minor cases of swimmer's ear can be treated at home using vinegar and water. You can also prevent swimmer's ear using this home remedy for otitis externa.
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Things You'll Need
- A Bottle
- An Eyedropper
- White Vinegar
- Water
- Piece of Tape -OR- Pen
- Tissue or Paper Towel
- An Earache from Swimmer's Ear!
Instructions
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1
Buy a small sealable bottle, preferably the type with an eyedropper attached to the cap, to store your home remedy for swimmer's ear. If you cannot find a bottle with the eyedropper in the cap, you'll need to buy an eyedropper separately. These items can all be found at the drug store or at stores like Walmart and Target.
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2
Use a pen mark or a piece of tape to mark the half way point in the bottle. This will help you when you're mixing the vinegar and water solution that will be used as a home remedy to treat swimmer's ear.
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3
Pour white vinegar into the bottle up to the half-way mark.
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Boil a couple cups of water to kill off any bacteria in the water.
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5
Allow the water to cool and pour it into the bottle containing the vinegar. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with water to create a swimmer's ear remedy comprised of 50 percent white vinegar and 50 percent water.
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Cap the bottle and shake the contents to mix up the solution that will be used to treat swimmer's ear at home.
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7
Fill the eyedropper with the vinegar and water swimmer's ear remedy.
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8
Tilt your head to the side and use the eyedropper to place 3-4 drops of the water and vinegar solution into the affected ear.
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9
Keep your head tilted to the side for one full minute to allow the swimmer's ear drops to distribute throughout the ear canal.
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10
After one minute, place a tissue against your ear and put your head upright; excess swimmer's ear drops will flow out of the ear and onto the tissue.
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11
Insert the vinegar and water drops for swimmer's ear into the other ear, following steps 7 to 10. This should be done even if you're not experiencing an earache from swimmer's ear. If the conditions were right for the development of swimmer's ear on one side, it's likely that similar conditions were also present in the unaffected ear. So using the swimmer's ear drops on both ears will help treat and prevent the earache.
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Repeat steps 7 to 11 three times per day to treat swimmer's ear at home. Continue using the drops for five days after the symptoms disappear.
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Tips & Warnings
Prevent swimmer's ear by using Q-tips to remove moisture from the ears after swimming.
For people who swim daily, prevent swimmer's ear earaches by using this home remedy after each swim.
If you've never had swimmer's ear before, visit your doctor to get a definitive diagnosis before you try using swimmer's ear home remedies.
If the earache gets worse or if it's not improving with use of drops for swimmer's ear, visit your doctor. Serious, more developed cases of swimmer's ear may require a prescription of oral antibiotics to clear up the earache.
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