It is called otitis externa. You may know it as swimmers ear. Even though the name suggests it, swimmers are not the only ones who get it. Otitis media and otitis externa together make up what we know as earache. Swimmers ear happens when the earwax that protects the inner ear is removed by too much exposure to water. The water also causes breaks in the inner ears tissue.

Did you know that humans are not the only ones who get swimmers ear and other forms of earache? Yes, animals get it too. You can count on having otitis externa at least a few times in your lifetime.

In swimmers ear, the skin inside the ear canal gets inflamed. This often causes internal swelling that causes reduced hearing, too. There may even be drainage. Sometimes the inflammation is so bad that it spreads to the face and neck. At the very least, you will have pain and itching. Whatever, the worst thing you can do is go on a vicious self-cleaning mission. By using ear buds to scratch the inner ear you are making it worse.

If you have swimmers ear, cut out swimming and exposure to damp conditions (such as steam baths) for a few days. Shampooing is also out for the duration. At the very least, use good earplugs if this is unavoidable. Eat foods rich in Vitamin C because this will help clear the inflammation faster. You can also obtain eardrops containing a mixture of aluminum sulfate and acetic acid and use them.

If your otitis externa does not go away within a week, stop all home treatment and go to a ENT specialist. The problem may require specific medicines like antibiotics to cure. Trying to treat a severe case of swimmers ear at home can make it worse and delay healing.

Urushiol? What’s that? I asked.

The stuff causes severe allergic reactions. Many trees have it at sap, said the dermatologist. He was writing a prescription for Burows Solution and some antihistamines. He rattled off some incomprehensible botanical names as he did. I did understand Sumac because my uncle had once told me about it. The doctor was referring to the other trees, shrubs and vines that have urushiol in them.

I was back from a long trekking trip in North America and caught a very irritating rash during a campout. I’d thought I’m an experienced outdoorsman but had somehow forgotten the childhood warning leaves of three, let it be.

Call it poison oak or poison ivy, the stuff is quite volatile. The doc went on to tell me that people have died after eating poison ivy by mistake. Others have thought that they can burn it safely in a campfire. The fact is that burned poison oak and poison ivy delivers its urushiol through the smoke and into the lungs. People have had terrible lung problems because of that. Some have even died. If you’re an asthmatic and get a dose of poison icy smoke, you are in deep trouble.

If you find the typical inflamed red lines and blisters on your skin after a walk through the woods, you need to take action immediately. Apply cool compresses to the affected area. Use any kind of astringent you have around the house too. Burows Solution is the time-tested treatment, so use it if you can get it. You can also have a fan blowing over the compress to help in cooling the area. An ice cube works very well if one is available.

Boosting low immunity

For many years, my cousin has been battling a severe skin condition that requires treatment with steroids. In case you did not know it, prolonged use of steroids is very bad news. This is because they dampen our body’s immune system, which protects us from infections. The immune system also eliminates harmful agents from our system. Tampering with this has very serious consequences. Arnie catches colds and other infections at the drop of a hat.

Low immunity can happen for many reasons, not only steroid use. Some of us have naturally low immunity against infections. In most cases, this means that the innate immune system does not produce enough bacteria-fighting cells. However, the adaptive immune system (the body’s second line of defense) may also stop producing enough antibodies to ward off pathogens. Lowered immunity occurs naturally after age 50, but it can happen much before that. Lowered immunity is often the result of drug and alcohol abuse. Smoking and obesity can also create problems.

There are ways of helping our immune system get stronger. Proper nutrition is among the most important. We need a diet that delivers enough folic acid, iron and zinc. Increasing our intake of foods rich in selenium; iron and copper is also called for. The immune system depends on these elements to make it strong. You can also start a daily regimen of vitamin A, C, E, and B-6 tablets.

If your physician diagnoses you for lowered immunity, get off all harmful substances and adopt a healthy diet. Get on a regular exercise program. It boosts the immune system very efficiently. Ask your doctor for alternatives to steroids if you are taking them for any reason. Many natural remedies found in the Indian herbal medicine system ayurveda help boost immunity, so consult a specialist.

Coming Up for Air and Not Getting It

I watched the kid struggle for air. His lips were blue with oxygen starvation and his eyes were red and bulging. He was wheezing pathetically and coughing up thick mucus every few seconds. His mother, on the park bench beside him, had him bent over and was thumping his back. It seemed to help a little, but not much.

Asthma? I asked. She nodded disconsolately.

Doesn’t he have an inhaler? I asked, fumbling for mine. I always carry it my lungs close up without warning on damp mornings. She explained that they had finished his salbutamol inhaler the night before, and the pharmacies would open only in an hour. We gave her son two hefty puffs on mine and within seconds the asthma attack subsided.

I have lived with this hellish disease all my life. During my childhood in Germany, my uncle would take me to an egg-shaped oxygen chamber at the local hospital when it got too bad. We would sit in there for an hour, he reading the papers and I getting a breather that would see me through that day. At other times, I had to submit to steroid injections that would help, but make me feel as though I was swimming through cotton. Salbutamol inhalers, the primary emergency asthma medication today, had not been invented yet. My mother would give me steam inhalations at home, usually with some eucalyptus oil mixed in, and I would get a lot of relief with that.

No one really knows why some people get asthma and others don’t. We do know that it can be inherited  and sure enough, my grandmother had it. The triggers differ from patient to patient with me it is pollen, dust and cat hair. For that matter, I can’t touch dogs or cats without feeling that iron band settle around my throat and chest immediately after. Asthma is an allergic reaction of the airways, which become inflamed and constricted.

Mine got a little better after my teens, but it is still very much part of my life. The kid in the park has better options than I did those many years ago. Patients can be desensitized to the trigger allergens today when I was a kid, such a concept was pure medical science fiction. There are better medicines available, too. But asthma is a living hell when it is at its worst, and it can effectively wreck one’s childhood. I couldn’t take part in sports or even play normally and had to avoid all sorts of foods. I thank God for my inhaler now, but wish that I’d had it back there in Hamburg thirty years ago.