Swimmer’s Ear Remedy

Today I want to share with you a personal testimony of mine.  Living in a hot desert in the summer means that we spend a lot of time in a pool.  A LOT.  Every day if we can.  My go to home remedy for preventing swimmer's ear (or, otitis externa) is preparing a 50/50 blend of distilled vinegar and rubbing alcohol.  Usually I have the kids squirt some in their ears after swimming and that tends to keep swimmer's ear at bay.  Well, that is, until I get lazy and forget to make a new batch for us to use.

One night, I was hugging my oldest son and he told me to be careful and not touch his ear.  As soon as he said that I thought of my empty bottle of alcohol and vinegar.  Oops.  Upon further investigation (pushing on the fleshy part right in front of the ear opening) I knew he had swimmers ear.  He said it had been hurting for about a day or two.  WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME?!?!  Since it was the weekend AND at night, I knew that a trip to the doctor was out of the question.  Besides, I wanted to give the oils a shot and see what they could do.  

After consulting my essential oils reference and searching around on the internet, I decided to try a blend of oils diluted into some sweet almond oil.  I dipped half of a cotton ball, just the edge, into the oils.  I swiped around his ear and behind his ear to disperse some of the drippy oils.  Then I placed the cotton ball just outside his ear opening. (NEVER drip oils directly into the ear canal.)  He let it rest there for 30 to 45 minutes and then I took it out.  I did this before he went to bed that night.  The next day I did it three separate occasions: morning, noon, and night.  

By the next morning he told me that his ear didn't really hurt at all anymore.  Just in case I repeated the procedure three times that day.  So, two full days of treating his ear with the oils plus one extra treatment the first night knocked out his swimmer's ear and kept him out of the doctor's office.  More importantly, he didn't need any antibiotics!  

The healing power of these oils continues to astound and amaze me daily.  I am thrilled that an oily home remedy healed him quickly and saved us a co-pay!  Oh, and you better believe that my alcohol/vinegar mixture has been refilled.  

 Please remember that I am not your doctor.  Or your nurse.  These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not meant to diagnose, treat, or cure.  I am just your weird hippy neighbor simply sharing what has worked for me and my family.

Pin It!