I’ve now had 3 swims with dizziness afterward. I swam in Sweden a couple years back in 55 degree water which really sucked. I got out feeling fine then all of a sudden crazy dizziness to the point I wanted to puke. Last year in my first tri in a couple years same thing. I almost had to sit down before I got on the bike! Water was probably 70. Yesterday again. I swam about a mile in 62ish water and got out feeling good then within a minute boom…dizzy and feeling like crap. It only lasts a minute or 2.
Can this be a result of “cold” water in my ears? A lack of swimming in a suit? I generally swim in a pool 3 times / week. I’ve never been dizzy after pool swimming. Only after a wetsuit swim in a lake.
As far as I know, that’s normal and yes, it’s the result of cold water in ears. Some people use earplugs to avoid/alleviate that.
To me that seems to happen mostly on my firsts OW swims of the year, then it seems my body adapts.
This happens to me on most of my OWS swims, I chalk it up to the increased amount of chop in an open water setting compared to a pool, that can throw your balance off. Normally when I leave the water (I see a lot of other people do this) I have to look down at the mats while I do the transition run otherwise I would probably fall over. By the time I am at my bike it passes. I tried using ear plugs but those were more annoying than being temporarily dizzy.
It’s a condition called “Swimmer’s ear”. I didn’t know what it was until I read up on how so many others have the same problem. Now I can’t swim without earplugs at all.
There are a multitude of swim plugs out there, but these worked well for me and are re-usable:
I am not convinced the vertigo is an issue with swimmers ear, people affected by that will also be affected in a pool. Our brains are designed to understand our orientation by the horizon. When you are in open water the horizon can be obscured by waves which means while are you are in it, you are fine, once you get back on dry land you are out of whack. In a pool the lanes and side of the pool are always easily in sight. This is a principle of flying IFR (instrument flight rules), if you are in a cloud you don’t have reference to a natural horizon so the plane could be 90 degrees or totally upside down and you may not be able to detect it. When you are trained as an open water lifeguard, this is also taught. Swimmers will panic when they can’t see land and will often start swimming *away *from land as opposed to towards it because they become disoriented.
I am not convinced the vertigo is an issue with swimmers ear, people affected by that will also be affected in a pool. Our brains are designed to understand our orientation by the horizon. When you are in open water the horizon can be obscured by waves which means while are you are in it, you are fine, once you get back on dry land you are out of whack. In a pool the lanes and side of the pool are always easily in sight. This is a principle of flying IFR (instrument flight rules), if you are in a cloud you don’t have reference to a natural horizon so the plane could be 90 degrees or totally upside down and you may not be able to detect it. When you are trained as an open water lifeguard, this is also taught. Swimmers will panic when they can’t see land and will often start swimming *away *from land as opposed to towards it because they become disoriented.
As with others, it’s cold water in the ear for me. I always swim with plugs or waterproof headphones (pool only).
I think swimmer’s ear is something different – an infection or maybe also inflammation from water staying in the ear for hours or days after a swim. I used to get ear infections as a kid, and the doc called it swimmer’s ear. Rubbing alcohol will fix that, but it’s easier in a race to just use the plugs.
It is the caloric response. Cold water in the outer ear causing convection currents in the endolymph of the semicircular canals, which stimulates the vestibulo-ocular reflex and creates vertigo.
I suffered from this really badly with an open water swim 2 weeks ago. It took hours to settle down.
Ear plugs work for most people if they seal the ear - if they leak obviously the cold water gets in and can cause those convection currents. For most people as the water warms up the difference in temperature between the water and the body becomes small enough that there is no appreciable response. Probably some people do learn to damp the response and acclimatise, empirically that seems to be the case. I’m not sure if it’s an actual fact that people acclimatise though.
Another practical example of how the many things I learnt at medical school are actually true and relevant to real life!
It is the caloric response. Cold water in the outer ear causing convection currents in the endolymph of the semicircular canals, which stimulates the vestibulo-ocular reflex and creates vertigo.
I suffered from this really badly with an open water swim 2 weeks ago. It took hours to settle down.
Ear plugs work for most people if they seal the ear - if they leak obviously the cold water gets in and can cause those convection currents. For most people as the water warms up the difference in temperature between the water and the body becomes small enough that there is no appreciable response. Probably some people do learn to damp the response and acclimatise, empirically that seems to be the case. I’m not sure if it’s an actual fact that people acclimatise though.
Another practical example of how the many things I learnt at medical school are actually true and relevant to real life!
Without ear plugs it happens to me even when pool water is 80F+.
I am not convinced the vertigo is an issue with swimmers ear, people affected by that will also be affected in a pool. Our brains are designed to understand our orientation by the horizon. When you are in open water the horizon can be obscured by waves which means while are you are in it, you are fine, once you get back on dry land you are out of whack. In a pool the lanes and side of the pool are always easily in sight. This is a principle of flying IFR (instrument flight rules), if you are in a cloud you don’t have reference to a natural horizon so the plane could be 90 degrees or totally upside down and you may not be able to detect it. When you are trained as an open water lifeguard, this is also taught. Swimmers will panic when they can’t see land and will often start swimming *away *from land as opposed to towards it because they become disoriented.
i’m going with this. i swim in the caribbean (which is quite warm) and i am always a little dizzy and unsteady on my feet getting out of teh water and walking up the beach. by the time i’ve walked up to where my stuff is i’m back to normal. definitely NOT a cold water issue. when i swim in teh pool (much colder than the sea) i do not come out dizzy
It is the caloric response. Cold water in the outer ear causing convection currents in the endolymph of the semicircular canals, which stimulates the vestibulo-ocular reflex and creates vertigo.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Did you copy my answer?