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Have a doctor check your ears for exostoses/surfer’s ear
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

paulf. wrote:
isn't the problem head in the cold water prone surfing vs. the occasional dunking we get as windsurfers?

A. Occasional? I fall scores of times times in a good day. It's probably highly individualized how much time a surfer vs a WSer spends with his head immersed, and WSers spend more time in the wind. And surfers tend to get bigger exostoses in the ear facing their prevailing wind.

B. It doesn't have to be cold. 60s does it.

C. Cold air or cool wind, including outdoor time in cool or cold weather, counts. My Spokane surgeon got 8 new exostoses patients in one week, and the WSing near Spokane is pretty much nonexistent.

D. My exostoses are unilateral -- all in one ear -- maybe ruling out my outdoor sports, all of which are bilateral. I'm going to ask my surgeon next week if mine may be due to sleeping in a strong breeze in a cold bedroom most of my life. That exactly fits the affected ear, my preferred sleeping position, and my bedroom environment.
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outcast



Joined: 04 May 2004
Posts: 2724

PostPosted: Wed Feb 26, 2014 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Doc's
Hood is effective....my biggest risk is when the water gets warm enough to begin to forget the Pro-plugs....

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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In Googling "Doc's Hood" (with no results), Doc's website supported my suspicion that my exostoses were caused by sleeping in a cold breeze. He recommends an ear band while sleeping.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OTOH ... my surgeon said if sleeping in a cold environment caused the exostoses, they'd be pandemic among old Eskimos. He can't explain why mine were in just one ear, partly because the cause is only a hypothesis, not established fact.

The normal down (dry) time for exostosectomy is at least one (for chiseling out the ear canal) to two (for the more common drill approach) months. I got lucky; a) I never felt ANY discomfort in the ear post-op, and 2) 10 days later he says it's fully healed and I can go sailing. (I think I'll settle for indoor swimming until the river warms up.)

The moral of that story is that, as I've read regarding selecting surgeons, there are plenty of expert ones in surprising locations (and, I suspect, plenty of lesser ones in huge cities). I went with my gut and research, and it paid off.
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wdsurf



Joined: 22 May 1999
Posts: 335

PostPosted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:11 pm    Post subject: ears Reply with quote

in the old wdsurf magazine dr. paskowitz talked about this problem a few times in his montly colume.wear a hat ,beanie,hood keep the wind off the wet ears Exclamation
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darach



Joined: 14 Apr 1994
Posts: 40

PostPosted: Sun Sep 21, 2014 7:54 pm    Post subject: surfer's ear surgeon Reply with quote

Hi isobars,

I saw this post from you…

Further research led to a much closer surgeon for me with excellent experience and reputation plus extensive training in a prestigious CA ear institute.

And wondered if you could please pass on your surgeon's name…I'm looking for one right now and prefer the chisel technique.

Thanks!
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scargo



Joined: 19 May 2007
Posts: 394

PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good info. Any feelings on vented vs. non-vented?
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:30 am    Post subject: Re: surfer's ear surgeon Reply with quote

darach wrote:
Further research led to a much closer surgeon for me with excellent experience and reputation plus extensive training in a prestigious CA ear institute.

And wondered if you could please pass on your surgeon's name…I'm looking for one right now and prefer the chisel technique.

I used Dr. Neil Giddings in Spokane with great results, but the center of the existoses universe and of the chisel method is apparently in your back yard, at
http://www.pamf.org/ENT/services/surfersear.html . I also prefer the chisel method, but it's not always superior even in the best of hands; some individual existoses are best handled the old-fashioned way. I went into surgery expecting the latter, but once I was under anesthesia and he could more closely examine my ear, Dr. Giddings decided the chisel was more appropriate.

As for vented vs non-vented, I just took Doc's ProPlug website's advice at
http://www.proplugs.com/surfing.shtml and went with vented. The non-vented plug is for kids with drains in their ears.
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LeeD



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 1175

PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I"ve been surfing for 24 years..
It's the cool convection of breeze blowing past wet ears that causes the problem.
Most of my surfing bud's had ear problems by year 6 in surfing.
Windsurfing, for me in warmer climes and mostly staying dry is less prone to ear exotosis problems.
My ears were diagnosed at 80% closed by DocHazard the the surfer medical convention staff.
Dropping surfing for windsurfing, and windsurfing around 130 days a year, the problem has slowly gone away so water doesn't get trapped taking showers and I'm sure the opening is getting bigger as a result.
Anything that blocks the wind from blowing past your wet ears solves the problem. Longhair, stay dry works too.
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jp5



Joined: 19 May 1998
Posts: 3394
Location: OnUr6

PostPosted: Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I too have been diagnosed with 80% closure do largely to surfing for nearly 50 years. I wear earplugs or a hood, can't stand to wear both, but now it is just to keep water from being trapped inside my ears. I've had a couple of outer ear infections, not fun. I have to turn up the TV real loud now. I've read the downside of the surgery outweighs the benefit.
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