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What Is Swimmer's Ear?

Swimmer's ear is an infection of the ear canal, the passage that carries sounds from the outside of the body to the eardrum. It can be caused by different types of germs.

What Causes Swimmer's Ear?

Swimmer's ear (or otitis externa) is common in kids who spend a lot of time in the water. Too much moisture in the ear can irritate the skin in the canal, letting bacteria or fungi get in. It happens most often in summertime, when swimming is common.

But you don't have to swim to get swimmer's ear. Anything that injures the skin of the ear canal can lead to an infection. Dry skin or eczema, scratching the ear canal, ear cleaning with cotton swabs, or putting things like bobby pins or paper clips into the ear can all increase the risk of otitis externa.

And if someone has a middle ear infection, pus collected in the middle ear can drain into the ear canal through a hole in the eardrum and cause it.