HHS HealthBeat (August 5, 2011)

Wet ears

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Add up the number of swimmers, multiply by two for the number of ears, and you have a lot of chances for people to get acute otitis externa – better known as swimmer’s ear. It’s a painful infection of the outer ear canal, usually caused by bacteria. Symptoms include redness, swelling, and sometimes drainage from the ear. It’s most common in the summer.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Michele Hlavsa says swimmer’s ear can be prevented:

``Try to keep the water out. Wearing bathing caps or using ear plugs can help do that.’’  (5 seconds)

To help get water out of your ear, pull your earlobe in different directions while your ear is faced down.

An article on swimmer’s ear is in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: August 4, 2011