Type & Wince
Published August 28, 2008 | 
The last couple days have been a bit rough. Among the many things I brought back from Michigan, one thing was a screaming case of swimmer’s ear. So for the last couple days I’ve been once again working through the pain. Finally yesterday I broke down and went to see the doc. I told him straight up I knew I was being a bit of a wimp, but after 2 days without more than a few broken moments of sleep and my head feeling as if it would break open at any point, it was time to call the cavalry. The funny bit, if there is one, is that the doctor would like to take some kayaking lessons! So as he handed off my prescriptions for pain killers and antibiotics, I wrote down my email on his prescription pad. “Keep dreaming about paddling, and call me in the morning!”. Of course it will be another day or so before the antibiotics kick in and at the moment I don’t dare touch my face. Until then I have to just wince and type, type and wince.
Swimmer’s Ear is an infection of the lining of the ear canal. It can occur when the ear remains wet for a long period of time or when the skin inside the ear is scratched. Either way, at that point the bacteria take over. The pain can get quite intense and run down into your neck and jaw. It can also cause dizziness. As you would guess swimmers, surfers, kayakers and anyone who spends lots of time in the water can be susceptible. While there are all sorts of precautions and home remedies available it can still get the best of you. Ear plugs work wonders however when you teach or are just being social it’s hard to wear them since you can’t hear what’s going on around you. So the next line of defense is to try as you might to get the water out with various products or a mix of alcohol & vinegar. Again, usually it works but sometimes it doesn’t. As we drove home Sunday night I told Alex I knew I was in for it. He reminded me that this was another good reason to wear a Tuilik. Yeah, good point.
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3 Responses to Type & Wince
Hope you will feel better soon, Derrick. Makes me wonder if I should start as a kind of personal discipline to systematically use a few drops to dry the ears after each rolling session… As you say, ear plugs are a bit asocial…
Great and very thoughtful feedback on QajaqTC, lovely to read, thanks.
Is the picture of you at age 5?
The alcohol and vinegar works (I’m assuming you are not talking about Irish whisky and vinegar?), I carry a commercial product sold just for this purpose–smells like vinegar, doesn’t taste like whisky. Wonder if some salad dressings might work too? — just kidding!
I’ve had those infections more than once–quite nasty! Mine caused more by sinus problems though than water infiltration.
Another reason to keep water out of the ear’s is to prevent “surfer’s” ear. Very painful and can lead to surgery to fix.
Cheers!!!
Hope you feel better soon. QTC was a blast, the raffle night was hilarious. Appreciate your musings about it all.