Disclaimer: I am not a doctor! I am sharing my experience, and research I did myself. Getting a doctors opinion is always the best course of action.

About 18months ago I moved to the tropics, the small island of Gili Air, Indonesia suited me well. The warm water and climate sounded idyllic in every way. This is where I started as a freediver – I was freediving a lot, doing 3 or 4days of diving and then taking a rest day. I was still a student and was diving for myself, having the time of my life. The day after I got certified as a freediving instructor at Freedive Flow, I taught my first course. I ended up teaching 10days in a row, thinking I was invincible.

On the 11^th morning I woke up with a pounding pain in my ear. This was my first taste of outer ear infection, medically known as “Otitis externa“. Symptoms may include itchiness, irritation, redness and swelling of your outer ear and ear canal. You may also have a feeling of pressure and fullness inside your ear.

I stayed out of the water for 5days using antibiotic eardrops to heal the infection. I went diving again on the 6th day – the infection came back in full force! One of the local scuba instructors laughed at me when I told her my infection was back, she said, “Once it feels ok, wait another day.” Advice you should follow if you work in the water.

We were battling with infections on and off every second month. Until one of the diving doctors from DAN gave us some advise: Use a 5% mix of white vinegar with water to rinse your ears, every time you get out of the pool or the ocean!

We started this ritual in April 2016 – and since then none of us have gotten ear infection again! On the island we get 25% solution vinegar. We use 4 parts water : 1 part 25% vinegar.

But beware, this is not a magic tonic which will give you bionic ears. You still need to take dry days and rest days to give your ears a chance to recover.