Water stuck in ear

[Owen]

In the past few weeks, I have gotten water stuck in my right ear during a shower five times. I wouldn't give it this much thought if it weren't for the fact that this started so suddenly and that it's always in the right ear, never the left one. The fifth time just happened, and the other two happened in pairs, one day after another. When it happens, it feels like a large drop of water is seeping up into my ear and staying up there, and after the shower ends, it stays in there. I've had no luck getting it out with Q-tips. Pushing on the inside of my ear with my pinkie finger relieves the pressure for a bit, but it comes back. I've tried using generic brand ear drops to relieve it, but those always take a few hours to work and don't always make the sensation go away, so the relief of pressure could just be natural.

Any suggestions to relieve the sensation of water in my ear or keep it from happening again?

[Mlpguy88]

This might sound weird but actually when this happens to me I put my ear back in the water. this usually only happens when I swim but to fix it I lay my head sideways and hold that ear just under the waters surface. It's kind of like letting more water hit it will break the bubble in your ear and it will come out.
But since it happens in the shower, try that same method with a full cup of water. It's like fighting fire with fire, but it has always worked for me.

[Zontar]

What usually works for me is jerking my head very hard in a direction that would coax it out. Like you're "shaking" the water out of your ear. Just take your neck slowly to the left, then fling it hard to the right. You'll feel it spill out.

[Porphyrogenitus]

I'm not sure what ear drops you've tried that take hours to work, but you can get alcohol based ones (Aqua Ear is one brand), where you put them in, wait 1 minute, and tip it out and they just take all the water with them. They've always worked fine for me (and were originally recommended by my doctor, so they should be safe).

[b0i70y]

Sometimes ear wax can trap water in your ear. I suggest seeing a doctor and asking about it. Personally, I have terrible ear wax problems, and I sometimes have to douche my ears.*

*Not literally, of course. I flush them out with a turkey baster like thing my doctor gave me.

[KaraBulut]

Originally Posted by Owen

In the past few weeks, I have gotten water stuck in my right ear during a shower five times... I've had no luck getting it out with Q-tips. Pushing on the inside of my ear with my pinkie finger relieves the pressure for a bit, but it comes back.

Originally Posted by Porphyrogenitus

I'm not sure what ear drops you've tried that take hours to work, but you can get alcohol based ones (Aqua Ear is one brand...

Originally Posted by b0i70y

Sometimes ear wax can trap water in your ear...

The ear canal has a bit of a bend to it where it turns slightly before the outer opening. So, if water gets in the outer ear during swimming or shampooing your hair, then the water can get caught on the other side of the bend.

Most of the time, reaching your hand around your head and pulling the ear backward will straighten out the ear enough to drain the water. Like this:

It also helps if you lay your head horizontally to the affected side to allow gravity to drain the water.

After swimming, the alcohol based ear drops do work. They're especially effective in preventing swimmer's ear, especially if you are swimming in lakes or the ocean where bacteria can get into the ear since the alcohol has an antiseptic effect.

Prevention is always preferable to intervention, so if you have a tendency to get water in your ear in while showering, place an earplug or cotton ball into the outer canal to prevent water from getting in.

If you find that turning your head to the affected side or straightening the canal is not working, you may have a partial wax plug that is obstructing the ear and causing the water to get trapped behind the plug. You might want to have someone look in your ear with an otoscope to see if there is an obstruction.