What Makes Surfers 17 Times Less Likely To Go Deaf?

Deafness among surfers is too common. This is due to an illness called surfer's ear. The cold wind and water on the skin of the outer ear causes chilling, causing the underlying bone to grow tiny nodules. These slowly close over the opening of the ear. At first this goes unnoticed and surfers may not realise that they need to seek medical attention until the narrowing reaches about 90%. At this point deafness is often noted.

Ear infections are also more common in this group of people. This is because the narrowing causes water and dead skin to remain in the canal for longer. Normally the ear is self-cleaning and dirt leaves of it's own accord. The combination of dead skin and water is a great breeding ground for bacteria and fungi.

As so little research has been carried out in this area ZenPlugs decided to look into it. They wanted to find out what surfers need to do to give themselves the best chance of being free from the dreaded condition. They sent out questionnaires via social media and a hospital newsletter and received 203 replies. They found that it was important to wear both a surfing cap and surfing ear plugs to give the best protection against surfer's ear. In fact, it reduced the chance of developing the condition by 17 times.

Many surfers in the survey knew that they needed to wear surfing ear plugs to prevent surfer's ear. Unfortunately most were not aware that they also needed to wear a surfing cap. This is because the cold has the same effect on the bone behind the ear as it does on the ear itself. The bone is called the mastoid and it is the hard lump you can feel if you put your hand behind your ear.

The survey showed that the longer people had been surfing the more likely they were to develop the problem. Also, the more they wore their plugs and hat the less likely they were to go deaf.

If they wore them for 40% of the time they went for 11 years on average without any problems, if they wore them for 80% of the time they lasted 18 years. People in the survey wearing them more than 90% of their time in the sea remained without surfer's ear. This was more than 20 years in some of the people surveyed.

Summary. If you don't want to go deaf and have repeated ear infections from surfer's ear then wear your plugs and cap every time you go in the water.