Surfers ear, non surgical remedy

General Discussion
61

Hi Kokua Greetings fro OZ. I’ve had the op 3 times (twice left ear once right). Using ear plugs and a Gath helmut. Live in Margaret River so cold wind. My Right ear is 90% blocked again. I’m over the ops and have been reading about natural remedies as I am a real believer. Can you just answer m a couple of questions.

  1. from your article again Herb was already on the path when he took another 3 months, so you thinking 6 months of the drops(which I’m totally prepared to do vs another op)
  2. I’ve seen two mixes a) 1/3 Water, 1/3 alcohol, 1/3 vinegar
    b) half alcohol half vinegar.
    I was wandering which it is. I’m after removal of the bone here as per your article rather than prevention.
    Cheers Toddy in OZ
    Aloha to you my frend.
62

Everything I would say has already been said here but one thing to add:

I just use surfboard wax!
I have earplugs but I prefer the wax.

Have to get the exact right size to be small e ough to stay in but big enough not to be a pain getting out.

I put soap in my ear before shower, leave it in there during the shower and then rinse out St the end for cleaning. If I need to I clean with an ear spoon.

Everything people have said here before is good too though.

I didn’t have to do this stuff when I was younger.
My ear started producing a lot more wax after surfing a river mouth in Bali. Definitely wear plugs there - so polluted

63

Aloha Toddy,
Mr. Mike Williams, AKA Kokua, has passed on to the big lineup in the sky. His Swaylocks handle, which means helpful, in Hawaiian, truely says what he was about. The answer to your question is, use the 50% vinegar/ 50% alcohol mixture. It is the mixture that was dispensed to me by a doctor, in Hawaii, in 1967. It flat works.

64

4 years ago, I replied in this thread. In 2008 I had the left ear drilled by Dr Shohet in Newport beach, no pain, quick recovery.

SInce my last post in this thread 4 years ago, I have had 2 episodes where my right ear got infected, and both times were when I forgot to get the 50/50 distilled white vinegar/rubbing alcohol drops into my ears ASAP, after a surf. One of them started a week after my last surf when washing my face in a sink allowed water deep into my right ear Canal.

I have very waxy/oily ears/scalp and have no issues with the drops drying out my ear canals. Obviously everyone is different in this regard, so no blanket statements from me. I will say that I absolutely have to use the 50/50 DWV and RA drops ASAP, each time, and will bring a bottle with me everywhere I go whenever my head will get dunked. I need to get them deep and suck them deeper while holding my nose and pulling slightly and utilizing gravity. The right ear drains OK, and I can hear within 30 seconds, but an hour or two later I will get another clearing and hearing in that ear improves by another 20%.

For fear of another infection, i have been using the 50/50 drops on a clean napkin or even just the 91% RA, on pinky finger to clean outer ear canal pre surf, only as deep as a pinky finger can go, before inserting ear plugs pre surf, and also cleaning/sterilizing the ear plugs themselves, each and every time before inserting into my ear. These are on a lanyard on a necklace and I make sure they do not bounce around on my wetsuit walking to ocean’s edge, and I also have a dedicated container for them which I keep sterile. I also need to make sure my music earbuds are kept sterile.

This summer when warmish and windless I found myself still wishing for the plugs when I went without, as I have gotten so used to them, and having warmer ear canals, that without them, my ear canals ache.

Getting used to wearing plugs sucks, but after a while it is no issue. With the diminished hearing when plugs are pushed deep, the other senses do seem to improve, and one can more appreciate the visual or feel the lip clipping the back of one’s neck or wind through one’s hair.

I am still using the standard 3 layered mushroom type of plugs whose depth and sound attenuation I can control, and have also tried the Mac’s plugs which are similar to the orange/blue AOE safety versions sold at home despot. I will try the new AQua ear plugs soon as I hear a local surf shop carries them.

Wearing ear plugs might suck, but not as much as not surfing sucks. I will religiously use the 50/50 DWV and RA drops, as for me, this is the only way to ensure I do not get another infection and the ensuing 2 to 3 weeks of misery. I will not be getting drilled anytime soon. That is not an option.

If I could go back in time to my late teen self, I would make that guy wear the hood sooner in the fall and later into the late spring. And stretch more, and get more pussy too.

65

:slight_smile: 'Onya Bill.

And thanks to Kokua too. I miss him. I didn’t know that was the meaning of his handle, but boy is it 100% bang on the money.

How about that? If you reflect on it, it’s pretty amazing isn’t it? Even all the way from “the great lineup in the sky”, Kokua just helped someone out. Lent them a hand.

So thanks too to the people who created Sways and who toil away behind the scenes to keep it running as well; because of you guys, Kokua’s still out there.

He’s still around.

The body may be gone, but his spirit lingers on in the words he left behind here, 'still living up to the name he chose for himself.

Helping people out. Being useful.

Forever.

So a BIG +1 from me to him, to Bill and to you guys for doing that.

:slight_smile: Cheers all.

66

Kokua was/is what Sways is all about. Gave respect and earned respect. If there is a heaven, he’s there. I don’t know how drops will help with surfer’s ear because it is the bone growth under the skin that closes the canal. But, if it works, it works. I surf year round in ocean temps between 48 and 58F. Doc Scott first noticed my surfer’s ear in 1982 or 3(treating me for a bad case of poison oak). I have stalagmites and stalagtites in there. 25 % closure then and 25% closure now in 2016. i wear a hood religiously. My understanding is it’s not the cold water, but the cold water evaporating and cooling the canal. Truck drivers get it too, in their left ear for those of you that drive on the right side of the road. Mike

67

bottom line …it works !
ps. nice to see Wilddog still here in writing…I do miss talking with him…last time we talked was about 3 days before his departure…he’ll save us places in the line-up… when we get there !

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68

For the benefit of ALL forum members, and a thank you to Kokua for his selfless contributions, here on Swaylock’s. Wish he was still with us.

69

Since this thread was up I started having ear problems, ringing in my ears, couldn’t hear good, always felt like there was water in my ears. So i started periodically putting eardrops of half white vinegar and half rubbing alcohol in my ears, and before paddling out I would put some in, then put my swimmer’s earplugs in. My ear problems have improved significantly, pretty stoked. I recently lost my earplugs, glad to see this up as a reminder to get some more.

70

Thanks guys, good info as usual.

71

Home Remedies For Earaches: – Earaches will be very intolerable. Most are because of ear infection and fluid buildup within the cavity. Different causes embrace the cold, wax within the ear, blockage within the nasal passage, physical harm to the inside of the ear, a rise in gas pressure and so on. Earaches commonly occur more in children as compared to adults. But do not worry about this because there are many home remedies to get rid of earaches.