Ear ye, Ear ye. Triathletes spend their fair share of time in the water, and with that can come a variety of uncomfortable issues. The king of these is indisputably swimmer’s ear. You will know you have it if you have pain that builds over a day or two in your ear. If it hurts to touch your ear, your ear feels a bit itchy and looks red, you probably have swimmer’s ear. More aggravated cases will result in fluid draining from your ear, ringing, fever and even trouble hearing. Once you have swimmer’s ear, the only thing to do is head to the doctor’s office for antibiotic drops.

However, there are a few things that you can do to prevent this ailment common to swimmers. Anything you can do to keep water out of your ears is a great start. Invest in earplugs–especially in open water swims where water may be polluted. Clean your ears out with q tips daily, but be careful not to go too far into your ear canal as this can be harmful. A swim cap used in addition to ear plugs can also help keep your ears dry and thus protected from swimmer’s ear.

Your training is already a pain in the legs, arms, shoulders, feet and butt. Don’t let it be a pain in the ear too!