So I went to the doctor yesterday afternoon. Since swimming in the Ocean on Friday night at the beach in Dana Point my ear hurts.
The guy looks at it for a second and then the nurse does her testing with this little machine to check if there is some “water” in the ear. It takes her about 15min because she has trouble using the machine. During that time she really showed how unprofessional she is. Amazing!
So doctor comes back and sends me out as everything is good. I told him I know my body and I know it’s not good. But there I go, just waisted an hour at the one of the doctors office of the LA Triathlon’s main sponsor.
Fast forward to 3:45am and I wake up and my ear fuckn hurts so bad. Can’t sleep anymore and will see another doc in the morning. Would even consider the ER because it hurts so bad but know that I could wait for 3hrs before getting any attention there. So that isn’t really an option. The beauty of the U.S medical system always amazes me.
The day before my ear started hurting I signed up for the Camp Pendleton Sprint Tri. My first tri in over 2 years. My last tri was St. Croix in 04 where I was in best shape of my life but got stung by a jellywish in the swim and crashed on the bike. I’m sick of that shit and just want to get back in. I could go on with that rant…thanks for letting me complain. I actually forgot about the pain for a couple of minutes…
interesting but at this time it hurts so bad I am scared to put anything into the ear. I just wait for another 3hrs and 15min, 30sec until I can call the office of a ear, nose, throat specialist.
I second this opinion. It happened to me when I was 10 at Disney World and ruined my vacation. By far the most pain I’ve ever encountered, and it was persistent for a couple days. Find another doc ASAP and get medicated!
Hi this is my first ST post. I am an ENT (ear nose throat) surgeon in Dover NH. It does sound like you have Otitis externa (swimmers ear) I would suggest that you see a local ENT and get some ear drops. They usually can be treated quickly. I hope you feel better. Chris
Otitis Externa is what it is. Thats what you get for swimming around Dana Point! Get some antibiotics (Floxin otic solution). 800 mg motrin 3 times a day for pain! And get in the habit of rinsing out those ears with fresh water if your going to swim near all that nasty run-off! No swimming, just run and bike and you should be good to go for the race on Sat! And if your in the 40-44 age group, get out of my way! or I will smack your ear!
Otitis externa (OE) IS swimmer’s ear. Since we are taught that the ear canal is red and often swollen, this misses the ‘young’ cases, since they might not be red or swollen, yet. If the ear is tender to a finger in the canal, or a tug on the lobe (lobule) or pressure on the underside of the ear next to the neck, you’ve probably got OE.
Believe it or not, white vinegar will often work, if you fill the canal with it often, like every 4-6 hours and lay there for a minute or two. If this isn’t helping, a variety of drops work. Tobramycin eye drops work well and are CHEEEEAAAAPPPP!, but you have to used them 3-4 times a day. Ciprofloxacin (generic) eye drops are failry cheap and can be used twice daily. If the canal is very swollen a wick might need to be placed in the canal to allow the drops to ‘wick’ past the narrowing.
Mito,
Don’t know if you’re aware, but Poche storm drain area has been closed for nearly a month due to polluted runoff, and that’s only two miles from Doheny (Dana Point). One day of south wind and all that crap would have drifted right to the harbor.
I’ve been having a similar problem. 4 days before IMLP my ear started to hurt like crazy and I had trouble sleeping and couldn’t do much of anything besides think about how bad my ear hurt. I figure it’d go away on its own. It didn’t and I finally went to urgent care yesterday (26 days after onset!) and the doc diagnosed me as having swimmer’s ear as well as a middle ear infection. He prescribed me some drops as well as an oral antibiotic. I will try to get my prescription filled tonight. Good luck. I feel your pain. For what it’s worth I bought some off-the-shelf drops that didn’t help much at all.
I once got an ear infection that I initially passed off as swimmers ear. Only the standard alcohol and vinegar drops didnt work. Had to go see my ear doc, where I was told it was one of the worst infections he had ever seen. I wouldnt play around with it. Go get it checked out. If its just swimmer’s ear, then great! If it’s not, you can head of any infection beore it does real damage.
The beauty of the U.S medical system always amazes me.
I’m sorry your ear hurts dude. But, look at the positive. You ONLY wasted an hour waiting to see a doctor. You didn’t like the service, so you have the opprtunity to see another. Within two days you get the treatment you need.
Much of the world would say you (we) are very lucky.
Hey I know as much as anyone (two young kids) how much it sucks to wait in a waiting room (even worse with sick kids). I understand the frustration. But we, with our system, have so many choices and so many fast treatements, that it really is amazing that we complain about “waiting an hour”, having/getting to see a different doctor, etc (I know, I do it too).
Did you look at WebMD and have an idea of what is going wrong with you ear. Never hurts to go to the doctor with some idea of what might be wrong, if for no other reason than to ask relevant questions.
Sorry about your ear that sucks.* *I won’t offer any advice on tx since you had a couple of doc’s post. I swim/surf in the ocean 3-4 days a week. A couple of things for the future.
Get some ear plugs.
When you come out of the water bend over and blow the water out your nose EASY! If you force it you could push the water into the ear canal.
Don’t go in the water for a couple of days after it rains.
As Tribodyboarder said be careful where you swim ex. storm drains, river mouths.
Before I did these things I would get infections all the time.
I’m also doing Camp P on Sat. hope to see you there.
Good luck.
PS: I’m going to do my swim now. Last one before Sat.
Swimmer’s ear dude. Hurts like a bitch. I had it at the end of last season and it SUCKED. Don’t waste time at the ENT or whatever specialist. Go to a quick med (do you have those? The ones at like the grocery store or target), get in and out in like 45 minutes and get an inner-ear antibiotic and take some advil.
Take a week or so off swimming, and when you get back in, wear earplugs for a while.
Coming originally from Switzerland it amazes me. While I am very happy and grateful that we do not live in 3rd World environment I think we should focus on strive for the best instead of having “excuses” and see that others are (much) worse. At least that’s my philosophy. I’ve just heard too many stories about US emergency care, etc. Of course there are always good and bad ones. In the end you are right that 48hours is relatively not that long but when you’re in pain the clock is just not ticking fast enough.
I swam near the Ritz Carlton. Is that a usually bad area to swim in? I’m aware about the rain and don’t go swim if it has been raining. In fact, that’s only my 2nd swim in the Ocean this year.
I will definitely get some ear plugs and replace them with new ones for every ocean swim from now on. I’ll take your advise on the blowing the water out of the nose. As soon as I get home I usually shower and rinse my ears with shower water out. Never swim after rains ever. Will 99% not show up for that race as my body is just very weak at the moment.
