Swimming with Tubes in Ears?

I ask my ENT about swimming with tubes. He told me not to worry in chlorine treated water, like pools, but to avoid or use ear plugs in lakes or ocean water.

My kids love to swim and take swim lessons. They have had tubes for two years and never had a problem at the pool (and we don't use tubes for trips to the pool).

BTW, we waited a month or so before going to the pool once the tubes were in. Not sure we needed to, it just worked out that way.

D., although it is true that you should not have to worry about bath water, or chlorine water, my kids did notice that they did not like the feeling of the water in their ears, and are still prone to outer ear infections, so we use wax plugs. Go to the pharmacy section at walmart (at least that is where I go) and in the section where the ear plugs and sleeping masks etc are, there is a clear little box with orange circles of puddy, and they work great. You will want to play with it for a second before you put it in his ear, kinda to get it warm, and then I tend to roll it into more of an oval shape than a ball, and then stick it into her ear, and mold it to fit her ears (not where her ear lobes are though). We dont do it for showers or baths, just trips to the pool and for sure the beach or lake. I hope I made sense, but really this works perfectly and at 6 you can teach hiim how to do it himself probably. PM me if you need any more help with this! Thanks and good luck ~A.~

No worries! When my baby brother had them, my mother went out and bought every type of ear plug she could find to fit his comfort level and what gave him the most protection against getting water in the ears. Once he found a set he liked (the wax plugs were form fitting), he was able to have a normal summer with swimming lessons, picnics at the lake... If I remember correctly, he didn't miss out on anything that year! There are so many choices of ear plugs now so you should be able to find something to fit his needs perfectly. Good luck!

We were given specially fit earplugs for my daughter to use while bathing and swimming. I'd ask your doctor about these.

When I was young I had tubes put in my ears and I could still swim, shower, and play like any other kid. It make be strange to him at first but if you use wax ear plugs that are squishy so they conform to fit his ears, he'll be just fine. He'll just wear them when he plays in water until the tubes fall out naturally. He shouldn't have any problems at all! And a splash of water every once in a while is nothing to worry about, the tubes are sensitive but not that sensitive. Hope this helps!

No need to stress about showers or even baths. My little boy has had them for a year and we've never had any problems. His doctor told us that his head shouldn't be under water, but splashing is fine. I think he can also use ear plugs for swimming, but that was never an issue for us because my little boy was too young to swim. I hope this helps.