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Surfers
Health |
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Surfer’s
Ear
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Surfer’s Ear
is the name for the bony growth
that occurs in the ear canal after
cold water exposure and it can lead
to hearing loss, recurrent infections
or ear canal obstruction.
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Since
the April Tax Day looms, how about reciting
the things in life you can always count
on? Well, taxes? Your Mum? Getting burned
surfing Los Angeles on a Sunday? What else
can you count on? Traffic on the 405, at
least two parking tickets a year; Britney
Spears weighing 2 bills in 2 years? Here
is one more item you can count on if you
surf: External Auditory Canal Exostoses
also called Surfer’s Ear.
Surfer’s Ear is common in lovers of
water activities and this is especially
true for surfers. That part of the ear you
stick your finger in when sitting in the
405 traffic is called the external auditory
canal. With Surfer’s Ear, cold water
exposure causes multiple thick bony lesions
to protrude into this canal. Most often
these lesions are asymptomatic, however
Surfer’s Ear can cause recurrent ear
infections, irritation, or even hearing
loss.
If
you hold it up to your ear you can hear the
ocean...
shots by alizafotography.com
Why is Surfer’s Ear like taxes? If you
spend time in the water, you will have to
pay your dues. The medical research supports
my guarantee. The Archives of Otolaryngology-
Head and Neck Surgery in 1999 examined the
ears of 307 surfers and 73.5% had some form
of Surfer’s Ear. In the group that surfed
less than 10 years, 44.7% had normal ear canals
and 6% had severely obstructed canals. And
for the old timers, the group that surfed
longer than 20 years, 9.1% had normal ear
canals and 16.2% were severely obstructed.
At least you are not a daily Maverick’s
or Ghost Tree charger; surfers in Northern
California develop significant obstruction
twice as quickly as Southern California surfers
due to the colder water. A 2002 manuscript
in the same journal showed that Californian
Surfers are 5.8 times more likely to develop
Surfer’s Ear than their Hawaiian counterparts;
this increased incidence is related to the
colder water. Need more proof? Let’s
refer to one reader’s email:
“I am a 55 year old surfer from LI,
NY...been surfing since '69. I am in very
good ‘surfing shape’, ie: double
sessions, even in winter, and I ride a 7'6"
thruster when conditions warrant. I surf an
average of 130 days per year. I have had three
"surfer's ear" operations (one BAD,
one good revision, & one very good one).”
–G.S.
This writer is an old timer; beware of him.
When he burns you on the “7’6
thruster” and you scream at him, he
really can’t hear you because of his
Surfer’s Ear. (Editor’s note:
‘thruster’ is a 1980’s term
used to describe a short board. The use of
this term correlates highly with age greater
than 50 years and a New York background).
Forgive him, the Surfer’s Ear odds have
caught up with him after decades of surfing.
With a little prompting though, GS can teach
us all about Surfer’s Ear.
“I had NO infection, hearing loss, or
other problems. However, 3 different Ear,
Nose and Throat doctors told me my canals
were 99% closed, and that waiting could allow
an infection to occur, which would extremely
complicate the surgery. I went with a local
Dr. who claimed to have much experience with
this surgery, but mainly because he was on
my medical insurance plan...BIG MISTAKE. Fast
forward to the operation---he drilled for
6(!) hours, and later claimed he "lost
his way" and blew a hole in my eardrum
that required a second surgery--obviously
by a different surgeon, to be repaired artificially.
I have had constant tinnitus in my right ear,
along w/ a substantial hearing loss. I'll
spare you the details of the anguish I went
through during this time--both physical and
emotional--and just say that it was Dr. P
at Manhattan Eye & Ear who "fixed"
things, and he performed the surgery on my
left ear, as well, with NO problems at all.
I get the ears checked & cleaned (no more
natural flushing in the right ear) every 6
months.” –G.S.
Can you hear me
now?
shots by alizafotography.com
The
email brings up a number of points about the
treatment for Surfer’s Ear. The decision
to proceed with surgery for Surfer’s
Ear is not straightforward. In 2003 the Journal
of Otolaryngology reviewed the operations
for 182 patients with Surfer’s Ear.
Only 67% of the patients had a relief in symptoms,
14% had complications such as tympanic membrane
perforation, infection or hearing loss, and
6% required reoperations. These percentages
support GS’s conclusion: if you are
like most surfers who develop External Auditory
Canal Exostoses without symptoms (hearing
loss, recurrent infections, or canal obstruction)
then you should delay surgery until symptoms
develop. If you decide to precede, extensively
research the surgeon you choose. Question
to ask include: “how many of these surgeries
do you perform a year, what complications
have you had, will monitoring my disease affect
my outcome, and have you published your results?”
What can you do to avoid the surgeon’s
steel? Well you already know…. and don’t
pretend the Surfer’s Ear made you deaf,
you are reading this. Put the plugs in your
ears; a 2004 study in Clinical Otolaryngology
noted the plugs prolonged the time for Surfer
Ear’s to develop by a factor of 5. If
you compare this study to the one above, a
Californian with plugs develops Surfer’s
Ear at about the rate of a Hawaiian without
plugs. And nobody will call you a “Haole”.
Surf
Safe!
Dr. Jude
Email
Dr. Jude with your questions and
comments
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