The days are warming up outside, and your thoughts are already turning to getting back into the water so you can enjoy your favourite water sports. However, if you do not take care while you are out on the water, you could face serious hearing loss as the years pass by. Whether you are a surfer or a swimmer, here are a couple of things you need to know before you pull out your swimmers this summer.
Surfing
It is estimated that 2.7 million Australians love to get out onto the water to surf. Surfers who spend many seasons out on the water can end up developing surfer's ear, and one of the symptoms of this condition is temporary or ongoing hearing loss.
Surfer's ear, also known as exostosis, occurs when the bone surrounding the ear canal develops lumps of new bone, and these new lumps cause a constriction in the size of the ear canal. Both wax and water get trapped behind this new bone growth, and this leads to the hearing loss. It is not known why there is excess calcium causing the bone to grow new lumps, or what the relation is to surfers who expose their body to both cold wind and water while out on the waves.
You can lower the chance of surfer's ear developing by protecting your ears when you go out to surf. Ear plugs are one way to do this, and another is to wear a hooded wetsuit. While it may not be the fashionable way to surf, it will protect your ears while out on the water. Surfer's ear requires surgery to remove the extra bone growth, and while recovering from surgery, you will need to limit your surfing time to reduce the chance of infection.
Additionally, any hearing loss that may have occurred as a result of the bone growth may now be permanent, and you will need to consult with a hearing specialist to discuss your options for dealing with this.
Swimming
If you get an infection in your ear that occurs between the outer ear and the ear drum, then you could be experiencing swimmers ear. Swimmers ear is another ear issue that is caused by exposure to water.
There are a number of symptoms that will let you know the water has gotten into the interior of your ear, and these include:
- A pain within the ear that increases when you pull on the ear or when you move the head too rapidly.
- An itchiness that is not relieved when you gently clean the ear with a cotton bud.
- Muffled hearing, or hearing a buzzing noise in one ear.
- A bad odour coming from within the ear.
Swimmers ear needs to be diagnosed by your local doctor, and it can be treated by antibiotics. However, when you have repeated instances of swimmers ear over the years, scar tissue begins to build up in the ear canal. This is a dual-edged sword because the more scar tissue you have, the more narrow the ear canal becomes. This gives even less room for trapped water to escape, and you end up with a vicious cycle of continued infections. A build-up of scar tissue will also decrease your hearing abilities.
Once you have cleared away the latest infection, you can eliminate the chances of swimmers ear returning by wearing ear plugs or a swimmer's cap when you are in the water.
Once the permanent hearing loss has occurred, you need to discuss whether a hearing aid is necessary for you to improve your quality of life. A hearing aid specialist from a company like Expert Hearing Care (Hearing Aids Perth) can help you with this, and they will also give you recommendations about which type of hearing aid suits your lifestyle best. The good news is that you can continue enjoying your water sports in the future while wearing your new hearing aid. However, by putting this information to good use, you can limit the damage that is done now by water exposure, and possibly eliminate any future damage from being done.
