This has never happened before, but I’ve had water in my left ear in for 4 days. Can’t complain too much since it is Caribbean water picked up while snorkeling on vacation last week, but I’m growing a little tired of it. I’ve shook my head until it about popped off, to no avail. Any suggestions?
Spend enough time in the water, and that will happen every so often. What usually works for me it to tilt the head sideways so that the offending ear is facing the ceiling. Then add about a medicine dropper full of rubbing or isoprophyl alcohol to your ear. (Don’t stick the dropper into the ear canal, just squirt the alcohol outside of it on the surface of the ear) Mush the front and back of your ear together so the surface tension of the trapped water bubble gets broken up, and the alcohol can get into the ear canal and push the water out.
This should not only help the water get going, but the alcohol will also help the ear dry out quicker.
The alcohol works well, if the sensation of the alcohol doesn’t drive you crazy. You can also put a hair dryer on low and aim it at that ear. There are also swimmers ear prevention drops that often help. If the ear is becoming tender you may have an external ear infection. Plain while vinegar in the ear 4-5 times daily often helps. If these things don’t help go see a doctor.
This is going to sound stupid but here is what I do.
I tilt my head so the ear with the water in it is facing down. Place my hand on my ear like a suction cup, then jump up and down on one leg.
It really works for me. Seriously
jaretj
(I’m desperately trying to be the man my dog thinks I am.)
Jumping works for me. In addition, timing a swift tug on my earlobe at that very moment where my feet strike the floor really helps.
Just had the same problem . Called a plumber : )
Sorry BORED!
I had something similiar happen after scuba diving in Cozumel one time. Water got trapped in my ear but it was my actually my middle ear behind the ear drum that became infected. Had a feeling of fullness of water in the ear. In the end I had to go to my MD and get some anti-bacterial drops which cleaned up the problem in a few days.
Is this a Seinfeld quiz? 
Isopropyl alcohol. They even sell bottles of it at the drug store for just this purpose, if you feel like spending 7 bucks. I think the brand name is “SwimEar.”
Have you been properly trained to jump. You could fall into someone, be in the wrong kind of shoes, not know the jumping rules! Think man Think!!!
try this it works ‘sometimes’
sit in a chair w/feel flat on the floor sholder with apart
bend over putting your head betweena nd below your knees
look straight backwards
you will hear the water moving in your ear
sit up quickly, but nor so fast that you pass out
water will come out your nose
like i said works about 50% of the time
.
Uh! wrong. If the water is in the ear canal, there is no connection with the nose, unless there is a hole in the ear drum. If there is fluid in the middle ear, it could reach the nose through the eustachian tube, which connects to the back of the nasal passage. Whether that maneuver would result in middle ear fluid coming out of the nose—I have no idea.
Also, there are many swimmer’s ear prevention drops, Swimear* is only one of many.
I once had a similar problem that was made worse by trying to get in there to get to it. Could do the ol trick with a syringe filled with warm water. Tilt the offending ear down over a basin and keep squirting some warm water up there. I know this cleared out plenty of grit and whatever else was hiding back there.
Most better full service salons or accupuncture/ accupressure/ homeopathic medicine place offer a service called “candling”. The procedure entails inserting a tube with a conical section at one end into your ear and then lighting the other end. The tube is about 1 foot long and they cut and relight it 3 times during the procedure. The wicking situation created by the lit tube pulls stuff out of your ear that you could not have imagined would be there.
I am cursed with heavy wax buildup and have found that even a little buildup could lead to water getting trapped between the eardrum and the wax. It is worth a try.
That sounds like a lot of work. I get wax in my ears too that adds to the water problem. I just bought one of those kits (Murine brand maybe) that has the drops to soften the wax and the bulb to squirt warm water in your ear to remove it. It’s amazing how much wax came out. I do that every few months or so.
In between, if I get water that I can’t knock out I just use the bulb to shoot warm water in there. I don’t know why but new water + trapped water = no water.
Good luck.
Same thing happened to me but it was in my ear for 1 week. What did I do? Go to hospital and tell will give you a pill/ medicine. Drink that then your water will strangely disappear.
fwiw, the swimmers ear drops they sell aren’t just rubbing alcohol. They are closer to the alcohol/vinegar mix. Just using rubbing alcohol over and over a lot will dry out the inner ear and can cause problems. The vinegar prevents this.
I bet the water is out of his ear by now.
jaretj
Are you sure it’s water? I only say this because after a scuba dive in St Thomas I thought I had water in my ear, only to find out it was bug. Walking around town it only felt like water, then when I was talking on the phone to my wife, it suddenly crawled out. I don’t think it liked the noise from the phone receiver. Try holding a radio up to your ear and see if anything comes out.