What Causes Ear Pain After Swimming While Having Ear Tubes?

Posted on Sun, 16 Aug 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 16 Aug 2015 Answered on

Mon, 7 Sep 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi I had ear tubes put in about 5 months ago. Today I jumped into a pool forgetting about the tubes. As soon as I went under I had severe ear pain in one of my ears and ran out of the pool screaming in pain. It's been about 5 hours and I still have severe ear pain. Do I need to see a doctor?

Answered by Dr. V. N. S. Parinam (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Take Ibuprofen

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Ear tubes does not contradict you from going into the pool. However you should have plugged the ears so that the ear canals are dry. With water the chances of infection increase. Since you have unbearable pain which could be because of sudden mismatch in the pressure with the external environment there could be bulge in the middle ear cavity.

I suggest you to take Tab Ibuprofen/Tab Naproxen thrice a day if they are available over the counter. You can see the doctor later if the pain persists after 48 hours or if there is a fresh discharge or temperature above 102 F.

Hope this answers. If you have any queries please follow up else you may close our discussion here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar