Swimming..... & Ears...

[zoralsurgeon]

Hey guys!

I heard that some people after swimming and having water in their ears will use isopropyl alcohol to make it evaporate and get the water out....say it works instantly.

I was talking with some classmates (in dental school) and we were curious if prolonged use of the OH could cause damage to the ear drum? Then, I said, I know who to ask....! And here I am...

Please fill me in.

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[OtoHNS]

Hey guys!

I heard that some people after swimming and having water in their ears will use isopropyl alcohol to make it evaporate and get the water out....say it works instantly.

I was talking with some classmates (in dental school) and we were curious if prolonged use of the OH could cause damage to the ear drum? Then, I said, I know who to ask....! And here I am...

Please fill me in.

I haven't seen anyone who's had problems from using alcohol in the ears. I would guess that if someone excessively uses it, it could lead to skin irritation, but I doubt any serious complications would occur.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

I haven't seen anyone who's had problems from using alcohol in the ears. I would guess that if someone excessively uses it, it could lead to skin irritation, but I doubt any serious complications would occur.

Would agree with this. It does have a drying effect and can make the ears dry and crusty if used too much which can be painful. But I've never seen problems from isopropyl if used in a reasonable fashion.

 

[zoralsurgeon]

Awesome. Thank you both for replying. We were curious because the specifics of the ear drum was not covered in our curriculum and thus we didn't know if it would dry out, crack, etc.. Thank you!