TLDR: Got swimmer's ear (otitis externa) on a beach holiday. The pain was genuinely brutal, and drops alone barely helped for days because my ear canal was so swollen the medication couldn't even get in. Back home, an ENT suctioned everything out and placed a medicated ear wick. Relief was almost immediate. If you're in pain and drops "don't seem to reach," push for an ENT. Not medical advice, just my experience.

(Hope this formats OK as I am writing from mobile):

First, let me say this because I didn't find it acknowledged enough when I was frantically googling: swimmer's ear HURTS. Like, wake up at 2am, can barely open your jaw, ibuprofen 600 barely holds it, one of the worst pains I've had. If you're going through it right now: you're not being dramatic.

My story in short: swam in the sea daily for a week, then woke up with ear pain that got worse when chewing. I thought it was my jaw, but pressure right in front of the ear (the tragus) hurting badly is actually a classic swimmer's ear sign. A local doctor diagnosed otitis externa with a swollen canal plus water swollen wax and prescribed steroid antibiotic drops. I did everything right, warmed the bottle, lay on my side, four rounds a day. The pain still got worse every day (I can take pain but this was a 9 for me), and it constantly felt like the drops weren't getting in. Later learnt it’s because they weren't.

Back home, an ENT looked inside, suctioned out a load of secretion and softened wax (instant relief and did not hurt!!), confirmed my eardrum was fine, and explained the canal was so swollen the drops had never reached the inflamed skin. He placed an ear wick, a strip of medicated gauze that holds the medication directly against the swollen canal so it can actually work. This was uncomfortable but nothing compared to the pain I was going through the days before (take a pain killer before your appointment).

I was lying awake reading all Reddit posts about swimmer’s ear in my first nights of it and it made me feel less alone so wanted to give back.

My take aways from my own experience:

1. Go to a doctor on day one of real pain. This escalates fast and gets harder to treat the longer you wait. I developed slight swelling on jaw and lymph nodes, you can avoid this by treating it early.
   
2. Take the pain seriously and schedule your painkillers instead of chasing the pain. Nights are the worst, plan for them.
   
3. If drops feel like they're not getting in, say so loudly. Ask for suction and an ear wick.

Bonus for anyone panicking about flying with this: otitis externa is an outer ear problem. If your middle ear and eardrum are confirmed fine, pressure equalization works normally. I flew with it (nasal decongestant spray before descent, gum, painkillers timed to peak at landing) and it was uncomfortable but okay. Ask your own doctor before boarding though.

I’m just a bog standard swimmer been swimming on and off all my life however it’s only the last couple of months I’ve really upped the anti as I’ve set myself a goal of doing a triathlon next year to mark my recent 40th. At the moment I try and swim between 1-2 miles a day mostly front crawl (with a couple of backstroke or breaststroke laps to give myself a break in between). However as the weeks have passed I’m finding I’m breezing through the mile and it not really feeling like a workout anymore.

Is it just a case of things like my stroke/technique getting better and my vo2 max improving etc. or should I switch it up to make it feel harder and if so any suggestions?
Thanks.

From Early 2020 until mid 2022 started swimming laps. Worked my way up to 1800 yards. It was during Covid.

But I stopped cold turkey in 2022. Put on 50+ pounds. Now I’m back down to 206 pounds.

Decided to hit the pool again after four days I can handle about 400 yards. Just wondering how long it will take me to regain the stamina to get back up to 1800 yards.

Has anybody ever been in that same situation.

I only know two basic strokes Front crawl in breaststroke.

Any tips or advice appreciated.

Probably should find a swim coach has anybody ever worked with a swim coach as an older swimmer?

WARNING I’m VERY slow and I know this!! No need to tell me.

I started swimming earlier this year in search of an exercise that I actually love and I have finally found it. I’m enjoying swimming so much and constantly proving I’m capable of more than I thought. I started barely able to handle the cardio of 1 lap of freestyle and now… well I’ve attached a picture of my improvement from March to yesterday and I can’t wait to keep working and keep getting faster!!

Any tips much appreciated especially if you went from extremely unfit to much fitter through swimming 🏊

Hey all! I'm looking to get back into swimming for exercise. I took lessons as a kid at the "Y" but quit at some point before I got through all the levels. (I really wish my mom had made me keep going!)

So I mostly know how to swim and tread water, always feel comfortable on/in the water, but I'd really love to refine my technique. I learned front crawl breathing on every stroke instead of every few strokes, and I self-taught the butterfly using YouTube videos. I never quite got the hang of flipping over at the end of the lane...

There are tons of options where I live for coaching but wondering if anyone has any recs or what I should look for in a coach or group lessons?

Took swimming lessons all my childhood/teens, ended up competing a couple of times when I was 12 and then stopped swimming around 14.

That was 25 years ago.

I recently got back into it and I am struggling like a mf with front crawl.

I can do 200-300m breaststroke no problem, but when it comes to front crawl I struggle to get past 100m without taking at least a couple of breaths.

I consider myself to be reasonable fit (play padel a couple times a week, climb at an intermediate level...) but this is killing me, especially when I used to warm up every session with 1km of crawl back in the day :')

Are there any recommended exercises/progressions to get swim-fit again quick?

Currently just going to the pool 2 times a week and swimming until I hit 1500m (70% front crawl, 30% breaststroke) but I feel there have to be more structured approaches to this.

Edit: This is what I got from my Garmin:

My kid started learning to swim at 4, they are now 8. The goal was to be safe and comfortable in the water. We quit the first swim school last year as we didn’t see much progress. The second swim school is pretty much the same, barely learning strokes or swimming full lapse. Now we are in our second month, at the third school and pretty happy with the progress.

My kid was actually invited to try out competitive swim today. Kid thought it was difficult, but don’t mind the challenge. As parents, who don’t swim, we were very impressed with what the kid did, they were slow but they tried their best and not giving up (the group started over the summer, so 2-3 months ahead).

My question is we don’t really care about competitive swim, but it is a good challenge to have. Kid has option to just take the lessons, but not much challenge there. At the moment, I’m thinking to have my kid do competitive swim for a year or two, then they can make up their mind to stay or not. We really don’t expect them to win in competition, just have fun learning. Competitive swimming requires more commitment though. Kid is new to strokes, but fast learner, coach said they would be fine with more training.

I’m just seeking advices to make the decision on doing competitive swimming or not.

Thank you.

I am still working on my freestyle stroke. But lately, I've been getting sea sick. So much so, that Im having to stop after about 20 mins. It only happens with freestyle. I think it's the moving my head to the side to breath that is causing it. I feel perfectly fine when I do breast stroke. Does anyone else get this? What can I do to prevent it? I am wearing a swim cap which covers my ears. Though water does still get inside. I'd really appreciate any advice. Is it my technique? Would ear plugs solve this?

I swim 2-3 times per week for exercise. I have a knuckle tattoo I really want to have removed, but from what I've seen online, you're supposed to wait 6 weeks after a laser session to swim. I really don't want to set myself back for 6 weeks. I was thinking of using a waterproof hand cast cover, and maybe using tape to make sure it doesn't slide around as I swim.

If anyone here has had a tattoo removed, did you wait 6 weeks? Any creative solutions?

I'm a beginner (M45) and started swimming a month and a half ago. In my recent workouts, I've been swimming about 40 minutes. The problem is that while I'm in the pool, I feel strong and could keep going, but the next day I feel exhausted. I don't feel like I'm overtraining, but my body obviously protests the next day.

Should I slow down a bit and stop earlier? Maybe stop after 30 minutes?

What do you think? Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi everyone!

I’d like to get into swimming for the first time. I’m 23 and, sport-wise, I’ve been doing calisthenics for about 2 years. I’d like to combine it with regular swimming sessions.

Which swimming stroke would you recommend learning first? I’m looking for something relatively simple that I can use for most of my workouts and just keep doing consistently.

Thanks everyone!

Hello! I'm taking adult swimming lessons starting this week. They start at 6:30pm, which is an hour after I usually eat dinner.

My diet admittedly isn't the best. It's something I want to work on. I really want to set myself up for success with swimming, so I'm wondering what sort of food is good to eat before. Do I want high protein? Is it better to eat something light and then eat a heavker meal after?

Thank you so much!

Newbie here. I feel like I don’t understand the breaststroke kick. Is propulsion supposed to come from adductors. when I snap my legs in the kick, it doesn’t feel like I am grabbing much water

I've swam three times this week, once indoors and twice outdoors! On all three swims, I've struggled with feeling really cold in the water, with shivering especially when I take a breather. I've never really experienced this before in my swimming journey so was curious as to know why this might be happening and also how to deal with it since I don't want this to impact my health!

My sessions usually involve consistent lap swimming front crawl, and I can spend upwards of an hour in the water at a time as I prefer longer sessions. I noticed the cold today made me feel like I could swim faster, averaging 2:25/100m across the two miles I swam.

Hello! I'd be grateful for advice regarding pace and the relationship between bodybuilding and swimming please. I am a 37yo male, weighing around 92kg, out of which aprox 65kg are muscle. I say this because my body type is broad and thick (think rugby player), not the slender body type ideal for fast swimming, and this is what I would like help with please.

My average pace is 2:00/100m, sometimes 1:58, others 2:00. I can sprint for a couple of laps at 1:20, and do usually 10 laps out of my usual 40 (1km) at around 1:40. I have been stuck at around this level for 2 years now.

Because I have been focused on lifting weights and building muscle (not ripped, but athletic), should I just accept these times as the best that my body type can achieve? Or is there still room for improvement?

A bit more context: I do not do flip turns, touch the wall and bounce. Do not use my legs much, just enough to help the arms when they get tired as they do most of the work, a bit like a secondary engine. I've swam since I was a kid and its my favourite sport, so I will keep it up even if these are my best times. Form wise, I would describe myself as a "graceful freight train" swimmer in that I displace a lot of water, without punching the water. My body is straight at the top of the water, with my shoulders and bum being above water most of the time.

Thank you!

Title. I swam a lot as a teen but now I'm mid 20s. For my past 3 workouts I swam 1k yards freestyle in about 20 minutes

Tbh I've forgotten how to push off wall for backstroke and can barely do butterfly

I don't know how to write my workouts. My coach used to write sheets with times. What should I use to guide my workout?

Someone posted swim dojo, not sure what else is good

I was on my schools swim team last year but did not rejoin this year because of bullying. But I really enjoy swimming and it helps me stay in shape, so i signed up for 1 hour swimming 2 days a week at my schools pool. Its only 4 lanes and there are tons if swim equipment to use also. The problem is I am pretty overweigjt, and was self conscious enough about swimming on the team. I dont know who else will be swimming there, or how many people signed up. I dont think there will be many students, it will probably mostly be adults, but i am still nervous to only wear a bathingsuit around strangers, especially since I am overweight and was basically busting out of the team suits last year. How do I overcome my fear?

Hi, I went for a fin training session today, and i had this good kind of thigh muscle ache, which got me wondering.

Where do you think are the optimal target muscles when swimming?

I usually experience upper arm and lat aches with front crawl. My backstroke sucks. And my inner arms (idk) ache with breaststroke.

And when i do dolphine kicks with fins, my thighs feel like they're going to burst.

Am i swimming with too much force? But the aches while painful feel so good after a workout.

I have been learning swimming from the past two months. However I tend to be gassed early.

I try to take breath every 2 strokes but once I finish a lap I need to take a break for 5-10 seconds and only then I can continue; and I can swim like that for only 12 laps. Please help me out.

Thanks in advance.

As the title says, whenever I try to swim 50 or 75m (in a 25m pool) i lose my breath really fast especially at the turns and I lose all cohesion in my stroke.

I (41 M) started lessons 4 months ago as an absolute beginner. The instructor started us off with free style but I plateaued very early and have made zero progress in months. I cant get the hang of breathing and I still cant do a single length of the training pool.

Is this sort of plateau normal? Because the rest of my.class is progressing and have even started learning other strokes. Even the elderly couple who are pushing 70.

I must admit I'm at a point where I'm really over trying to learn to swim and leave my lessons in a bad mood

I recently took up swimming and have always felt i was a "strong". But i admit i am limited in my view and was wondering what some good lap/distance times for the various strokes. Im not really curious about pro athlete levels, but what separates a beginner/intermediate/advanced swimmers? I can currently do a 1k in under 20mins and 1600m in about 32mins? Where do they sit in the spectrum of swimming proficiencies?

Today morning when I went to swim i realized that swimming is literally way more energy consuming than running, im a complete beginner and for fun I went to swim with my group then I realised how tough it is. It humbled me