EAR INFECTIONS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 83, 31 December 1937, Page 9

EAR INFECTIONS

American Doctor's Advice To Swimmers COTTON PLUGS FOR EARS Causes of infection in bathers' ears, and measures for their prevention, are outlined by Dr. E. P. Fowler, of New York, in Hearing News, the officiai organ of the American Society for the Hard of Hearing. Dr. Fowler is a leading ear specialist, and president of the society. Heatlhy ears need not be kept above water, because their outer canals are lined by skin, which will not be in-' jured by water in moderation, states Dr. Fowler. However, water will swell any fibrous or waxy material in the external ear canals and' produce pressure and temporary deafness, while the middle ear may be infected if there is a hole in the eardrum. A tightly fitting cotton ear plug saturated with vaseline will prevent water from entering the ear, but as such plugs will affect the hearing, they should not be used where hearing is essential to safety. Healthy Ears Harmed. Swimming may cause harm even to healthy ears, because infectious material which gets into the back of thenose may be sucked in whenever the middle ear becomes deflated, following forcible snuffling or swallowing with the nose closed'in any way. The middle ear then acts like a pierced rubbed ball squeezed under, water. When the vacuum is released anything near the tubal opening will be drawn upward toward the ear. In this way infectious material from the nose, or from the water, may be drawn into the ear. Anyone with an infection of the ears or nose is a danger to others, and such people should be prevented from bathing near others. Holding the Nose. Holdjng the nose only prevents water going into the nostrils, but does not prevent the partial vacuum in the back of the nose, and often in the middl J ear, following swallowing, Dr. Fowler continues. When using the crawl stroke, or diving, it is impossible to keep the nose above water. The old breaststroke style is the safest, because the head is forward or erect and the tubes to tha ears are more nearly vertical and dependent. so that in this position nothing can be forced into them against tm retained column of air. Swollen membranes may act like a ball valve, once a partial v^uum hts been established in the middle ear. Nature then fills the cavity with that ideal culture medium, the serum of the blood, which, when infected, becomes an abscess in the ear.