Q: I enjoy swimming for exercise, but water often gets trapped in my ears, even with ear plugs. What do you recommend?
A:The reason water is getting trapped in your ears is most likely a result of excess cerumen—ear wax—says Dale Rice, M.D., holder of the Leon J. Tiber and David S. Alpert Chair in Medicine and chair of the Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “Your use of ear plugs may actually aggravate the situation,” he adds, “by pushing the wax further into the ear canal.” Usually, excess wax can be removed by washing out the ear canal with plain distilled vinegar. But be patient. “It may take repeated irrigations for it to work,” he notes. If the vinegar irrigations fail, Rice recommends seeing an otolaryngologist, who will have the equipment and skill to remove any stubborn wax deposits.
Q: I’m on my feet a lot for my job and have recently been getting backaches. What can I do to help?
A:“Back pain is the second most common reason people see a physician and is one of the most common reasons for missed days of work,” says Yogi Matharu, D.P.T., assistant professor of clinical physical therapy in Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, a division of the USC School of Dentistry. Luckily, he says, most low-level back pain can be addressed with simple strategies such as taking short walks—even just a few steps—every 20-30 minutes to loosen muscles and increase circulation. Matharu points out that pain often occurs because of weakness in the muscles of the trunk, so specific exercises to strengthen and stretch core muscles usually will ease pain. General exercise such as walking, bike riding and swimming also help to ease symptoms and prevent recurrence. Other strategies include wearing rubber-soled shoes, applying heat or ice for 15 minutes and keeping good posture. If symptoms persist for more than two weeks; become severe; wake you from sleep; include pain, numbness or tingling down your leg(s), bowel or bladder changes, or weakness or coordination deficits in your legs, see a physician. |
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