The Facts
The ear is divided into three separated compartments - the inner,
middle, and outer ear. The inner ear contains the balance
organs and the nerves vital to hearing. The middle ear contains the bones that
link the eardrum to the inner ear. The eardrum separates the middle and outer
ears. The outer ear is simply the earlobe and a short tube leading to the eardrum.
Infection of the inner ear is called labyrinthitis, which can be serious.
Infection of the middle ear is called otitis media. It can cause temporary
hearing loss and can progress to the inner ear if ignored. Infection of the
outer ear is called otitis externa or swimmer's ear. It's rarely serious.
All forms of ear infection are most common in children, but adults are more
susceptible to swimmer's ear than they are to middle or inner ear infections.
While children under the age of six account for most cases of otitis media,
older children tend to get swimmer's ear.
There are no incidence statistics for swimmer's ear because it's usually just
a passing earache that is often not reported to the family doctor. It's known
to be most common in summertime, largely because that's when children are most
likely to go swimming.
Causes
Swimming isn't the only way to get swimmer's ear. You can also be infected
if hairspray or other liquids get into the ear canal. The bacteria (and occasionally
fungi) that cause swimmer's ear don't necessarily live in the water. Many of
them are already in the ear canal or are picked up in everyday life. However,
water or other foreign liquids in the ear can provide an ideal breeding ground
for them.
You can also trap bacteria in the ear by using cotton ear swabs. The skin of
the ear canal slowly moves outward like a conveyor belt, carrying shed fragments
of skin away from the eardrum. Pushing a cotton swab into the ear goes against
this process, and causes dead skin and earwax to build up. Occasionally, scratching
the ear canal can also promote infection. This tends to trap moisture in the
ear. Moist skin and tissue create a friendly environment for bacteria and allow
them to multiply, causing infection.
It's been found that people with the following conditions get swimmer's
ear more easily:
- allergies
- diabetes mellitus
- eczema
- psoriasis
- seborrheic dermatitis (in which dandruff is the most common symptom)
