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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffSwimmer's ear is an infection in the outer ear canal, which runs from your eardrum to the outside of your head. It's often brought on by water that remains in your ear after swimming, creating a moist environment that aids bacterial growth.
Putting fingers, cotton swabs or other objects in your ears also can lead to swimmer's ear by damaging the thin layer of skin lining your ear canal.
Swimmer's ear is also known as acute external otitis or otitis externa. The most common cause of this infection is bacteria invading the skin inside your ear canal. Swimmer's ear is usually treated successfully with eardrops. Prompt treatment can help prevent complications and more-serious infections.
- Goguen LA. External otitis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 4, 2010.
- Osguthorpe JD, et al. Otitis externa: Review and clinical update. American Family Physician. 2006;74:1510.
- Kaushik V, et al. Interventions for acute otitis externa. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2010:CD004740.
- Swimmer's ear: Otitis externa. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/rwi/illnesses/swimmers-ear.html. Accessed Aug. 4, 2010.
- Swimmer's ear. American Academy of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery. http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/swimmersEar.cfm. Accessed Aug. 18, 2010.
- Rubin MA, et al. Pharyngitis, sinusitis, otitis and other respiratory tract infections. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc.; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2883486. Accessed Aug. 18, 2010.
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