Surfer’s Ear…

Straying briefly from dedicated foil content (next blog will be my thoughts on safety when downwinding)….

Surfer’s ear is something that most cold water surfers are somewhat familiar with (in terms of the potential consequences) but maybe don’t fully understand. So as we come into the northern hemisphere autumn / winter transition, I thought it might be a good idea to write a blog about it.

I first learnt about Surfer’s Ear in 2017 on a trip to Cape Town where I was surprised when I noticed that (almost) everyone had these ear plugs in. I’d been kiting for 3 years at this point, but having lived in Australia and Brazil with the odd trip to sunny destinations I hadn’t been exposed to much cold water. At first I thought it wasn’t too big of a deal, cold water wasn’t uncomfortable, and it wasn’t until I heard about the treatment for surfers ear that I immediately went to the first place I could find to get some ear plugs which happened to be one of the earlier generations of Surf Ears, a product I still use to today.

So what is Surfer’s ear? (most of my info comes from the SurfEars site)

As eluded to at the beginning, it’s when bone grows in your ear canal (this is called extosis).

What causes Surfer’s Ear?

Exposure to cold water and wind (and both at the same time is the magic combo) cause the body to protect your ear with these bone growths.

But I never wear ear plugs and haven’t had any issues?

The rate of bone growth and severity varies hugely per person. Some people may wear ear plugs all the time and still get significant bone growth, and for some it may be the opposite.

Surf ears did a little study and the statistics are pretty alarming – have a read on their site.

How do you treat surfers ear?

Here’s the number one incentive to wear ear plugs. The surgery to treat surfers ear is not fun. It requires the bone to be drilled out and doesn’t even eliminate the chance of the bone growth returning….yeh nah f#ck that, plus you’re out the water for a decent chunk of time.

Other reasons to wear ear plugs

So aside from the obvious reasons to wear ear plugs, here’s some of my reasons in addition to wearing them.

I like the solitude of being on the water to clear my head, especially when downwinding. The ear plugs help me disappear into my own bubble
No annoying water in your ears
Much lower chance of ear infections (I wear them in warm water too)
I downwind with bone conduction headphones, earplugs make the sound even better and emphasise the bubble

Why SurfEars®?

They are vented, which means that they don’t seal your ear off. A sealed ear plug is asking for a barotrauma (ruptured eardrum). Any crash where you land with the side of your head on the water with a sealed off ear basically creates a pressure wave on your ear drum which can easily cause it to rupture. This is particularly relevant for foiling for me. The vent is protected by a gore tex membrane which then prevents water from going in. The added advantage of the vent is that sound gets in fine, meaning you don’t need to take your ear plugs out to have a conversation with your buddies in the water.

For me, they fit great. I’m aware that some people may have ears where these don’t fit as well, that doesn’t detract from the fact that this is a great product, though as a whole I think most people I’ve met of spoken to find that they fit really well thanks to the range of buds available and even different sized ear pieces.

So, as we go into the colder seasons, I’d highly recommend protecting your ears. At the end of the day no one wants hearing loss or to have to go and get (uncomfortable) remedial surgery for something you can prevent easily for not too much money.