I’ve switched gears from marathon training to triathlon and with that comes lake swimming.  I love swimming, but I always seem to have trouble with swimmer’s ear and ear infections when I swim a lot.  I’ve tried ear plugs and they never seem to stay put through a long swim.  I’ve also tried keeping my cap over my ears and that alone doesn’t help either.  Enter my six year-old.

During a recent visit to my daughter’s Ear Nose and Throat surgeon (she had ear tube surgery in May), we were advised to keep her ears completely dry for eight weeks.  Difficult at best, especially during the summer.  Her doctor told us to coat cotton balls in vaseline and use as earplugs.  The vaseline creates an air-tight seal – she compared it to chewing gum – and keeps the ears dry.  What an easy (and economical) solution.  It’s worked incredibly well for eight weeks of baths, showers, and lots of swimming.  And, it’s worked for me, too!

Cheaper than earplugs and it works much better!  I’m off to the lake…