Dr Arvind Varma Clinic

Swimmer's ear is a medical condition, which involves inflammation, irritation or infection of the ear. It may affect the outer ear and also the ear canal. Swimmer's ear is called Otitis externa in medical terms. The condition may be acute to chronic in nature.

Causes:
Swimmer's ear is an infection that's usually caused by bacteria commonly found in water and soil. Infections caused by a fungus or a virus are less common. This condition is more common in teenagers and young adults. It may occur due to a middle ear infection or because of a respiratory infection such as cold.
Swimmer's ear can occur as a result of swimming in unclean or contaminated water. These waters contain pseudomonas and other harmful bacteria, which can lead to such ear infections. The infections are rarely caused by fungus.

Swimmer's ear may also result due to other reasons. They can be:

1. Scratching the inside or outside of the ear.
2. Having something stuck in the ear. When you clean ear wax with cotton swabs or small objects, damage may occur. Using headphone or ear plugs for a long period of time may also cause swimmer's ear.
3. Allergic reaction to some object or anything placed in the ear may also cause Swimmer's ear. These may be hair products or jewelry.
4. Some chronic skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis may also lead to this infection.

Risk factors:
There are several factors, which may enhance the risk of getting swimmer's ear. They are as follows:

1. Swimming in water, which has got elevated levels of bacteria. This includes lakes and ponds.
2. People having narrow ear canals are at a more risk of swimmer's ear.
3. Aggressive cleaning and scratching of the ear canal.

Symptoms:
The symptoms which indicate swimmer's ear are:

1. Itching of the ear canal. This becomes intense as the condition progresses.
2. Redness on the inside parts of the ear, which get more extensive in later stages.
3. Discomfort which worsens by pulling on the outer ear or pushing on the tragus of the front part of the ear.
4. Drainage of a fluid which is clear and odorless. As the condition worsens, there is excessive drainage of fluid along with the discharge of pus.
5. A fullness feeling in the ear and a partial blockage of the ear canal because of swelling and fluids.
6. In advanced stages, fever and swelling of lymph nodes in the neck is indicated. Hearing impairment may occur.

Swimmer's ear is a health condition, which involves the ear. The ear gets inflamed because of a certain bacterial infection. Although it is not a very severe condition, in some cases it can do significant harm.

Proper and sound hearing is essential for a healthy living. If you are suffering from lack or loss of hearing, chances are that you are missing out on life itself. Therefore it is imperative that you undergo treatments in case you are suffering from any kind of hearing ailment. There are various reasons that contribute to loss of hearing.

Some of the common causes are-

1.        Age

2.        Increasing noise

3.        Genetically inherited

Over the years various surgical and non-surgical methods have surfaced that repair hear loss and damage. Among the other branches of medicines, Ayurveda is the most old and ancient method. It uses natural herbs in order to correct and treat hearing loss. This has proved to be extremely beneficial and potent and it cures hearing ailments by various natural methods. Some of them are:

1.        Lukewarm mustard oil or sesame oil
If you are suffering from ear ache or loss in hearing, try putting few drops of warm mustard oil and sesame oil in your ear and hold it with index fingers. At the same time store the air in your mouth and let your cheeks contract and bulge for a minute or so. This ayurvedic tip considerably improves hearing and reduces ear pain.

2.        Raddish juice and sesame oil
If you are suffering from sores and hearing problems, a mixture of the two can be beneficial. In this method, a small quantity of raddish juice should be boiled with a small quantity of sesame oil till the juice absorbs the oil. This mixture should be administered twice a day in order to experience the results.

3.        Applewood oil
A variety of ingredients are required in order to create the resultant oil. Initially cow's urine should be boiled and the applewood powder must be added to it. This mixture should then be filtered and further added with sesame and goat's milk. This concoction then should be boiled and the resultant oil should be stored and applied with cotton daily. This improves hearing a great deal.

4.    Mixture of neem and turmeric
In this method turmeric and neem leaves are boiled together. The steam should be taken as well as the water must be applied on the ears and surrounding areas. This has proved to be an extremely effective remedy in treating puss in the ears and consequent hearing loss.

5.   Mixture of raddish juice, turmeric, sesame oil and ajwain seeds
All these ingredients must be taken in selective quantities and boiled to get the resultant oil. This oil must be stored and used to treat hearing loss and other ear diseases. 

An eardrum rupture or perforation is a little gap or tear in your eardrum and the tympanic membrane. The tympanic membrane is a thin tissue that partitions the canal of the middle ear and outer ear. This layer vibrates when sound waves enter your ear. The vibration proceeds through the bones of the center ear. Since this vibration allows you to listen, your hearing can be affected if your eardrum is harmed. A ruptured eardrum is additionally called a perforated eardrum. Permanent hearing loss could be an end result in some cases.

A ruptured eardrum, similar to thunder; can happen all of a sudden. You may feel a sharp pain in your ear, or an ear infection that you've had for some time all of a sudden leaves. In some cases, the person may not feel any signs of the rupture.

Some of the causes for such a perforation are:

1. Infection: Ear infections are a major reason for eardrum rupture, particularly in children. Liquids tend to deposit behind the eardrum in such cases.
2. Exercises: Exercising can bring about pressure changes in the ear and lead to a punctured eardrum. This is known as barotrauma, and takes place when the pressure outside the ear is not the same as the pressure inside the ear. Activities that can bring about barotrauma include scuba diving or flying on plane.
3. Other activities: Wounds can likewise burst your eardrum. Any injury to the ear or side of the head can bring about a crack.

Diagnosis: Your specialist can use a few approaches to find out whether you have a ruptured eardrum:

1. A liquid test in which your specialist tests liquids that might spill from your ear from infection.
2. An otoscope exam in which a specific gadget with a light is used to investigate your ear channel
3. An audiology exam, in which your specialist tests your listening to range and eardrum limit
4. Tympanometry, in which your specialist uses a tympanometer to test the pressure changes in your ear.

Treatment: The treatments are as follows:

• Patching: In the event that your ear does not recuperate by itself, your specialist may fix the eardrum. Fixing includes setting a sedated paper patch over the tear in the film.
• Antibiotics: Anti-toxins can clear up contaminations that may have prompted your eardrum break. They additionally shield you from growing new diseases from the aperture. Your specialist may endorse oral antibiotics or eardrops.
• Surgery: In uncommon cases, surgery might be required to fix the gap in the eardrum. A surgical repair of a punctured eardrum is called tympanoplasty.

A cracked eardrum generally recuperates without any invasive measures. Many patients with cracked eardrums encounter just transitory listening problems.