Swimmers' earplugs, why and how to obtain them?

I received a young 12-year-old patient this week who suffered from a fungal infection on both sides. Guess what, she is quite a swimmer and loves water sports. Read through this short article to learn more about swimmers' plugs and how to obtain one.

Despite all the effort that is being made to keep public and school swimming pools clean and far from germs, there is a high chance of fungal and other bacteria being found in the water, changing rooms and other places in any swimming pool. The environment of your ear canal is dark, warm and humid, a perfect environment to host bacteria and for the infection to grow. This is the condition of the ear canal of the young swimmer whom I attended this week.

The only natural line of defence in your ears against infection is the layer of earwax that covers the inner side of your ear canal and literally makes them waterproof. That's one of the reasons that general advice about the hygiene of your ears is not to be cleaned with cotton buds or anything that wipes off the healthy layer of earwax from your ear canals.

Can earwax cause ear infections?

The answer is yes and no. On the contrary, the earwax protects your ear canal from infection. However, excessive buildup of earwax could stop water from coming back out of the ear canal. The water trapped in your ear may have batteries (often does) that, over time, can cause ear infections.

Who should consider using swimmers' earplugs seriously?

Swimmer earplugs are ideal if you enjoy swimming but have grommets in the ear, have perforations in the ear or are susceptible to ear infections. Their ‘full shell’ design provides a consistently effective barrier against water ingress into the ear whilst swimming. In summary, swimmer earplugs are highly recommended for the following groups:

1. People with grommets or have perforations in the ear

2. People who are prone to ear infections

3. People whose ear canals do not produce much earwax

4. People enjoy swimming in the open sea and rivers

5. Professional swimmers and divers

How can I obtain a pair of swimmer earplugs?

Swimmer earplugs are made for the shape of your ears, hence they are custom-made. HearingNow started offering Phonak hearing protection products, including Phonak sleeping earplugs, music earplugs, work and shooting earplugs. The range of Phonak Serenity Choice earplugs comes in custom-made as well, which requires a visit to our clinic for impression taking from your ears.

Don't let the fear of an ear infection ruin your holiday and stay between you and the love of water sports.

Custom earplugs (Crystal Palace)

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