Middle ear infection and swimming

[Lemmonie]

I have a 4 year old with a middle ear infection (no discharge so not burst or perforated?) who loves her swimming lessons. She started antibiotics saturday night and swimming is on Wednesday.

Internet search suggests swimming as a massive no go and also ok if eardrum has not burst! She is in no pain now.

Im confused?

[Targarama]

Can she wear a cap?

[Lemmonie]

we dont have one and i doubt i'll get one. It was a nightmare trying to get a silicon sock for a child to go swimming, no-one seems to make stuff like that for really little ones.

[LMC]

Personally I would wait and see....

If there is no increase in pain through tonight until Wednesday then she should be fine. As you say, if the eardrum is intact the water wouldn't get in, so no problem there.

Only if she starts bawling at some point, in obvious pain, and then the pain suddenly goes away or markedly reduces would I suspect a perforation due to the pressure build up (and subsequent release) in the middle ear from the gunked up eustachian tube.

To make any water ingress less likely, when you take her on Wednesday, take some cotton wool and Vaseline with you. Roll up a lug sized piece of said cotton wool and coat it with the Vaseline. Bung it in. It'll either stay in or not...

I know you're not a stupid person but I feel obliged to add that the cotton wool must be big enough that it can only fall out, and not fall in