The way I heard that one (from my mom of course) was never stick anything in your ear OTHER THAN YOUR ELBOW… still good advice in my opinion!!
aloha Herb & Kokua speedy healing to you both!!!
Well - At least I it no longer feels like I have an elbow in my ear…
I’ll get the specialist opinion on Monday…
Meanwhile - I’m gonna mix up a batch of 50/50 alcohol and vinegar… Thanks for the encouragement Kokua.
My Dad’s ma,my granny said the same…I just took an old saying and re-worked it !
I still can’t hear from my rt side but no other effects like falling over everytime I stand-up…lol.
My dogs look at me as to say…OKAY HERB,WALK ? BALL? WHAT YOUR PROBLEM ANYWAY ?
LOL !
Herb
Herb, Sorry about your ear, hope you feel better soon my friend. Mahalo,Larry
for bill barnsfield,kensurf and anyone who’s interested.
bring up old posts… will get you a ding on your swaylock’s report card!
lol.
herb
Who the heck cotton swabs there ears after surfing? I'm lucky if I get my underwear back on.
lol.
So Herb - Did you get the growths “popped” off or???
Think I posted, but the “new” method is so much better - back in the water in about three weeks, felt like new in a few after that.
who wears underwear.
Every year when i go back to school in the fall i get sick. Every time the nurse goes wow both your ears are infected, do they hurt? nope. I see maybe 20-40 days during the summer of surfing if i am lucky. I am gonna stop using Q-tips. its a bad habit for me. Guess ill try the 50/50 mixture from now on to clean my ears. 1-2 a week when out of the water. then everytime i get out of the water.
thanks for bringing up this post.
I’ll vouch for the alcohol/vinegar mix as well. I usually don’t tell people this because I got tired of the peculiar stares but since you guys brought it up here goes- my exostoses seem to have gone into remission. I have been using the mixture on and off for close to 10 years now. I was initially informed about from a doctor when I was a kid to treat swimmers ear. Many years later when the surfing ear problems began I recalled the doctor’s formula which was slightly different than mentioned above (thirds of water, alcohol, white vinegar). I also recalled that 6th grade science experiment where you soak an egg in vinegar for a day. The vinegar breaks the calcium bond at the molecular level and the egg shell becomes rubber like as if a water balloon.
My understanding is that the bone growth is under the canal skin. Is the vinegar able to penetrate the skin and break down the bone growth? I don’t know. I don’t have an understanding of chemistry at that level so I don’t have the answer. Maybe the canal membrane is thin enough for the vinegar to pass through? Previously my lefty was 2/3 blocked and had difficulty draining and my right was troublesome as well although not as severe. After several years of diligent use of the “formula” my ears slowly improved and I never have draining or infection issues. The last doctor reported only slight closure. My surfing frequency has deceased only slightly over the years so I can only pin the improvement to alcohol/vinegar.
For what its worth I came across an ears, nose, throat site that suggests alcohol as a cause of exostoses so I don’t know what to think!
“Exostoses: These are benign bony growths which unlike anosteoma are usually multiple and have a wide base. Anexostoses is not a neoplasm and on histology is composed of laminar bone. Exostoses may occur from chronic exposure of the ear canal to cold. This can occur from a long history of using alcohol ear drops or from chronic swimming in cold water. Pre-op picture of exostoses on the right, post op showing the eardrum on the left.”
way at the bottom of the page- http://www.entusa.com/external_ear_canal.htm
Also Herb, I have heard that the bone growth tends to return faster than it appeared before surgery and some guys, with less severe situations than yours, have wished that they never had the surgery. Sounds like you have to have surgery though. Good luck either way.
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Howzit flatlands, Herb posted that his ENT doctor has tod him the growths are getting smaller and it is from the 59/50 mix. He will not have to have the surgery and actually his ENT is going to reccomend it to other people who also have the same ear problem. My ENT looked at my ears a few weeks back and told me he could only see scars here the bone rowths were originally. The thing that amazes me is how fast it worked because I went 10 years between the time the ENT doctor told me how bad my ears were and the next time I went to a ENT. It seems that has been only about 6 months since he started using the mix.. Aloha Kokua
Hey Herb
Had my left ear drilled, grew back after 12 months, so didn't bother with right ear.
50/50 mix cleared my ear before op - might try the daily routine to cure the other ear.
I used custom molded silicon ear plugs for a while ($150 a set) until my toddler lost them somewhere.
Now use a soft cotton-beeswax ear plug that can be molded to your ear - work really well! Just the right mix to mold in winter, without completely melting away in summer.
Karl
So I guess it does work- there is our hillbilly clinical study proving 100% efficacy. Shoot we coulda got rich Kokua!
One guy I met told me that his ears were awful and that he began stuffing cotton in his ears overnight. He said his ears improved back to normal and he thought the main factor of improvement was just keeping the ear canal warm. Hope you’re doing well.
As noted in my post #3 above, the 50/50 mix was shown to me in 1967 by the surfing doc, Marshall White, at the Ewa Clinic. In medical circles the mix is known as AAA Otic. (Acedic Acid and Alcohol) As others have confirmed, IT WORKS! I ALWAYS treat my ears after getting out of the water, and again after showering at home.
Now use a soft cotton-beeswax ear plug that can be molded to your ear -
work really well! Just the right mix to mold in winter, without
completely melting away in summer.
Hey Karl - Do you buy this stuff or make it? Do you know if the custom plugs helped?
I asked my last surgeon about it, and he said the only way to keep it from happening again is to keep the ear 100% dry. Tried Doc’s Proplugs… same as when I was a kid, hurt like hell, and leaked like a sieve… and, they were fitted by an ear doctor… go figure… “Some ears are just too different…” The custom plugs are not cheap as you’ve pointed out, but I’m going to get them if it will keep the bones away… I’ve been using the 50/50 too, but for some reason I did not experience the miracle…
wow bill,
how’d i miss that one !
i guess we’ll have to call it the “wildog/thrailkill treatment” now.
man,i mean it …WORKS !!!
no surgery needed as of now.
my ears are about 70% clear.
remember kiddies…you have to do it…everytime to schedule.
and after surfing… of course.
hope you’re felling better bill t.
been thinking about you alot,my friend.
need anything?
call.
herb
Hey Taylor
Custom plugs stopped them getting worse.
I'll try to find the brand names of the moldable ones.
Here's something similar
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Sports/Surfing/Other/auction-243580366.htm
Just curious about the 50/50 mix alcohol / vinegar. What types of alcohol and vinegar? Is that 96% ethanol? And how strong is the vinegar or what type.Is it just some ordinary white vinegar?
Starting to get more and more problems from the very cold water here in Sweden. Usually always wear a hood and the last 3 years plugs underneath the hood. Never thought I’d be able to get ear problems from surfing here due to the relatively inconsistent surf we have. Water temps go donw to around 2-4 degrees celsius here in southern baltic sea, thats around 36 ish F perhaps. North of Stockholm ice moves in during wintertime. Brrrr…
Picture is of a couple of crazy friends of mine out surfing the Baltic sea midwinter…
Right on Karl - Do you use this type, and, if so, do you where a hood with it, and, again, if so, have you had problems w/it sticking to the hood (A problem I had with the silicon stuff.)?
Looks like it would be worth trying.
Has anyone seen anything like this in the states? I’m thinking shipping from NZ would be way more than the cost of the product.