What to do if water gets into the ear
Getting water into the ear is an unpleasant situation that needs to be corrected immediately. With untimely help, water can cause serious inflammatory and infectious (with damage to the eardrum) diseases. In any case, everyone should know what to do if water gets into the ear.
We provide first aid
The recommendations below can be used to get rid of water in the ear for both adults and children. And it doesn't matter where it happened - at home after a bath or on the beach near a reservoir. What can be done as first aid:
- Hop on one or two legs, tilting your head towards the stuck ear. Usually one minute of active jumping is enough.
- How to remove water from a child's ear if he does not yet know how to jump or does not understand how to do it? It is necessary to put your palm to the ear of the child, press it with force, and then sharply remove it. Under the influence of the air flow, the water plug is destroyed.
- You can use the method of professional divers and swimmers. You need to draw air into your lungs, then, pinching your nose with your fingers, blow forcefully, imitating a deep and powerful exhalation.
What to do if your ear is blocked from water and hurts
It often happens that the feeling of the presence of water in the ear is painful, and the above methods of providing first aid do not help. Then the best option is to seek qualified medical help. But if the ear is blocked from water and hurts, and there is no possibility of visiting a doctor, we recommend taking the following measures:
- Make a flagellum out of cotton wool and clean their ear. A cotton swab will not be suitable for this procedure, because it will not be able to absorb water, which is the first priority.
- You can lie down on a flat surface (without a pillow) on the side of the blocked ear. Under the weight of the head, the water will come out on its own.
- If seawater gets into the ear and does not come out, try to drip 1-2 drops of alcohol and wait 3-5 minutes. Alcohol mixes with water and evaporates. This method can be used not only by adults, but also by children.
- If water gets into the ear after bathing, it is allowed to use hydrogen peroxide. 1-2 drops of the solution are dripped into the ear, after which the lobes are pulled slightly down and back to the back of the head. At the same time, the water will pass a little further through the ear canal (it is usually felt), but you should not worry, because when mixed with hydrogen peroxide, the water evaporates quickly.
If water gets into the newborn's ear while bathing, it can only be removed with a cotton swab. In the absence of a result, it is advisable to seek help from a doctor. In many cases, parents cannot understand which ear the water got into and whether there is a problem at all. For control, after bathing, the baby must first be placed on one side, and then (after a few seconds) on the other. So the water will flow out on its own.
What to do if the ear hurts after removing water
Often patients of ENT doctors complain that after getting water in the ear, an intrusive aching pain appears. The cause of its appearance is swollen sulfur, which has turned into a dense plug and presses on nerve endings. It is unlikely to be possible to remove a sulfur plug on your own, and it is easy to push it deeper or damage the eardrum. Only a specialist can help here.
If there is pain, but there is no feeling of ear congestion, then it is worth:
- Apply dry heat to the problem ear. It means heated sand or salt poured into a sock or any napkin.
- Instill 1 drop of propolis tincture into the ear, making sure in advance that there is no allergic reaction to this product.
- At night, apply a vodka compress to the problem ear. Vodka must be diluted with water in a ratio of 1:1. Otherwise, a burn is possible.
More details about how to get rid of the feeling of water in the ear can be found on the website Dobrobut.com.
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