Q: I enjoy swimming for my exercise, but water often gets trapped in my ears, even with ear plugs. What do you recommend I do to avoid getting swimmer's ear?
A: The reason water is getting trapped in your ears is most likely the result of excess cerumen—ear wax—says Dale Rice, M.D., the Leon J. Tiber and David S. Alpert Chair in Medicine and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "Your use of ear plugs may actually aggravate the situation," he adds, "by pushing the wax further into the ear canal." Usually, excess wax can be removed by washing out the ear canal with plain distilled vinegar, Rice says. But be patient: "It may take repeated irrigations for it to work," he notes. If the vinegar irrigations fail, Rice recommends seeing an otolaryngologist, who will have the equipment and skill needed to remove any stubborn wax deposits.
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