During the summertime, cooling off by heading to the beach or jumping in the pool provides essential relief from the summertime heat waves. However, too much swimming can increase your risk of developing swimmer’s ear. Swimmer’s ear is a common inner ear infection that occurs when water is trapped deep in your ear canal. It can cause severe discomfort and often requires treatment to resolve. Keep reading to learn more about swimmer’s ear symptoms to watch out for and how to prevent swimmer’s ear so that you can safely enjoy cooling off with a swim this summer.
If you are experiencing ear pain or any other symptoms of swimmer’s ear, you should seek urgent care. At AFC Urgent Care Perth Amboy, we offer patients in Perth Amboy, NJ, with same-day ear pain diagnosis and treatment services. Our clinic is state-of-the-art and maintains short wait times. Simply walk in, or schedule your visit online.
Symptoms of Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s ear is a very common ear infection. It mostly affects young children because their ear canals are much smaller which can result in water getting trapped more easily. However, anyone can experience swimmer’s ear. It takes a very small amount of water getting stuck in the ear to lead to an infection. Oftentimes, you won’t even know you have water in your ear until the infection occurs.
Swimmer’s ear can cause a variety of painful symptoms. It is important to seek medical treatment as soon as you suspect you’re experiencing symptoms of an ear infection so that you can begin treatment before your symptoms worsen. Common symptoms of swimmer’s ear to watch out for include:
- Itching in the ear
- Redness in the ear
- Discharge from the ear
- Pain in the ear
- Fever
- Chills
- Fatigue
- Muffled hearing
- Feeling like your ear is clogged
How to Prevent Swimmer’s Ear
Swimmer’s ear is most common among people who spend a lot of time in the water. Repeated exposure to water in the ears increases your risk of developing an ear infection from sitting water in the ear. Swimmer’s ear can also happen from showers and other types of water exposure. The best way to avoid swimmer’s ear is to avoid dunking your head underwater. Jumping into water or swimming underwater can force water into the ear canals and it can easily become stuck.
Shaking the water out of your ear after swimming if you can feel it is essential to preventing swimmer’s ear. However, seeking treatment as soon as you notice potential symptoms of an ear infection should help prevent severe symptoms of swimmer’s ear from occurring. Treatment for swimmer’s ear often includes prescription ear drops and at-home pain management with over-the-counter pain medications.
Visit AFC Urgent Care Perth Amboy for Same-Day Ear Infection Treatment in Perth Amboy, NJ
If you’re experiencing any symptoms of swimmer’s ear, seeking medical care early can help prevent severe symptoms from occurring. At AFC Urgent Care Perth Amboy, we offer same-day ear pain diagnosis and treatment for patients of all ages in Perth Amboy, NJ. Our clinic accepts walk-in patients 7 days a week and maintains short wait times. We accept most medical insurance plans and offer affordable care rates. Walk into the clinic today or call us for more information at (732) 896-9962.
