# Why don't my ears fill with water **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 7, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386 "2007-09-07T17:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/1 "2007-09-07T17:25:31Z")
When I dive in the pool/sea why don’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/2 "2007-09-07T17:29:42Z")
Because you have a tympanic membrane (ear drum) inside your ear blocking water. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/3 "2007-09-07T17:44:01Z")
::smack:: ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/4 "2007-09-07T17:47:23Z")
Coupled water surface tension with the fact that your ear canal is curved and it does a pretty good job of keeping water out of the inner ear. Dive in the water, turn your head in the right angle, and shake it a little. Your ears will get plenty of water in them. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/5 "2007-09-07T17:58:31Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] ::smack:: [/QUOTE] Is that you knocking water out of your ears? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/6 "2007-09-07T18:56:47Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] When I dive in the pool/sea why don’t they [fill with water]? [/QUOTE] Of course they do - if they didn’t, there would be no need for products such as [this](http://www.drugstore.com/qxp12443_333181_sespider/swim_ear/ear_drying_aid.htm). ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2007, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/7 "2007-09-07T19:12:47Z")
When scuba diving it can be uncomfortable when your ear canal doesn’t fill with water near the surface. Mostly off-topic: At one point I was able to blow little bubbles of air out my ear when equalizing. It made an interesting noise when my ear canal was filled with water. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/8 "2007-09-08T05:02:41Z")
Usually your ear canal would fill with water. Then there’s the eardrum, and behind that is the middle ear. This is a chamber with bones and stuff, and it’s the one that you have to “pop” which means to equalize the pressure with the outside world, by way of the eustachian tubes. The inner ear is the part where the actual sensors and nerves are. Normally the eardrum seals the middle ear from the ear canal, unless it has been ruptured for some reason. I think they sometimes put a hole or tube in a person’s eardrum if they have too much trouble with fluid in the middle ear. (That tends to happen in an ear infection.) > **[Ear](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear)** > > An ear is the organ that enables hearing and (in mammals) body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals the ear is usually described as having three parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of the pinna and the ear canal. Since the outer ear is the only visible portion of the ear in most animals, the word "ear" often refers to the external part alone. The middle ear includes the tympanic cavity and the three ossicles. The inner ear sits in the bo... ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/9 "2007-09-08T05:04:41Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] When scuba diving it can be uncomfortable when your ear canal doesn’t fill with water near the surface. … [/QUOTE] ??? I don’t get this, sorry. 39 years of Scuba experience, and I find it most comfortable when my ear canal does not fill with water. This filling happens much more often when snorkeling, because as \*\*BubbaDog \*\* said, it’s a lot easier to achieve when maneuvering one’s head around, whereas I very often come out of a 40 or 50 minute Scuba diving excursion with no annoying water gurgling in myu ears every time I bend down. Not trying to be annoying or anything, just confused, sorry ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/10 "2007-09-08T13:38:32Z")
[QUOTE=flex727] Of course they do - if they didn’t, there would be no need for products such as [this](http://www.drugstore.com/qxp12443_333181_sespider/swim_ear/ear_drying_aid.htm). [/QUOTE] There IS no need for that product. It’s 95% rubbing alcohol. Just buy some generic rubbing alcohol, put it in a plastic squirt bottle, and you’ve saved yourself not only three bucks on price, but also shipping and the wait time. And you get 16 ounces, rather than one. What a ripoff that product is. A pharmacist told me about this after about the third time I showed up with a prescription for ear infections. I’m still pissed that the doctors never told me about this. I’ve never had an ear infection since. (I swim every day.) ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/11 "2007-09-08T14:31:21Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] There IS no need for that product. It’s 95% rubbing alcohol. Just buy some generic rubbing alcohol, put it in a plastic squirt bottle, and you’ve saved yourself not only three bucks on price, but also shipping and the wait time. And you get 16 ounces, rather than one. What a ripoff that product is. A pharmacist told me about this after about the third time I showed up with a prescription for ear infections. I’m still pissed that the doctors never told me about this. I’ve never had an ear infection since. (I swim every day.) [/QUOTE] Heh, you’re completely correct, of course. I DO buy the product, but I buy it for the plastic squirt bottle, not the contents. Where do you get a plastic squirt bottle like the Swim Ear one that’s refillable? ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/12 "2007-09-08T15:44:48Z")
But, of course, there’s another reason your ear canal doesn’t fill with water when you jump into a pool, and that is that there’s air in it. And water often goes in so far, but can’t get farther because of the air that’s trapped between the water and the eardrum. That’s the reason, as has been aluded to above, that turning your head around and over, etc., in the water, does allow water to fill the canal. It’s much the same thing you’d have to do if you were going to try to fill a piece of garden hose with water by immersing it into a sink. Namely, you have to turn it and lift different parts of it to allow the air to rise to the surface of the water that is inside it, so that the water can go into the spaces formerly occupied by the air. Your ear canal is not a straight tube, either. Same deal. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/13 "2007-09-08T18:31:38Z")
[QUOTE=flex727] Heh, you’re completely correct, of course. I DO buy the product, but I buy it for the plastic squirt bottle, not the contents. Where do you get a plastic squirt bottle like the Swim Ear one that’s refillable? [/QUOTE] Try getting a squeeze-bulb used for flushing your ears out. Depress the bulb, stick the nozzle in the bottle of alcohol, and allow the bulb to reinflate. Insert in ear, depress gently, _et voila_! Reusable bottle! For those of you suffering from earwax, try hydrogen peroxide mixed with a small amount of glycerin instead of the expensive bottled concoctions, too. Remember, irrigate GENTLY. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/14 "2007-09-08T19:24:55Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] Mostly off-topic: At one point I was able to blow little bubbles of air out my ear when equalizing. It made an interesting noise when my ear canal was filled with water. [/QUOTE] I can pinch my nose shut and blow air out through my right eye, near my tear duct. It’s not exactly something that would get [Annie Savoy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094812/) all hot and bothered, but it’s a fun trick. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/15 "2007-09-08T19:32:29Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] I can pinch my nose shut and blow air out through my right eye, near my tear duct. It’s not exactly something that would get [Annie Savoy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094812/) all hot and bothered, but it’s a fun trick. [/QUOTE] As captivating as that must be - I’d much prefer to have a talent that would work those wonders on Susan Sarandon. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/16 "2007-10-15T12:02:29Z")
Sorry to raise a zombie, but I didn’t catch this question: [QUOTE=flex727] Heh, you’re completely correct, of course. I DO buy the product, but I buy it for the plastic squirt bottle, not the contents. Where do you get a plastic squirt bottle like the Swim Ear one that’s refillable? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Daithi Lacha] Try getting a squeeze-bulb used for flushing your ears out. Depress the bulb, stick the nozzle in the bottle of alcohol, and allow the bulb to reinflate. Insert in ear, depress gently, et voila! Reusable bottle! For those of you suffering from earwax, try hydrogen peroxide mixed with a small amount of glycerin instead of the expensive bottled concoctions, too. Remember, irrigate GENTLY. [/QUOTE] That’s one way, but you can buy a palm-sized squirt bottle at Rite Aid, Thrifty, or a 99 Cents store for less than a dollar. It’s probably easier than using an ear syringe and carrying around the whole bottle of rubbing alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/17 "2007-10-15T17:41:26Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] I can pinch my nose shut and blow air out through my right eye, near my tear duct. It’s not exactly something that would get [Annie Savoy](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094812/) all hot and bothered, but it’s a fun trick. [/QUOTE] When I put ear drops in my ear (usually for infections), I could swear I have the sensation of them coming out the corner of the eye near the nose. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/18 "2007-10-15T18:16:36Z")
[QUOTE=guizot] There IS no need for that product. It’s 95% rubbing alcohol. [/QUOTE] Your statement is accurate, but possibly confusing. When I first read it, I thought you were saying that 95% of the product is rubbing alcohol, and took exeception. Most “rubbing alcohol” is actually 30% water…not good in this application. If you take care to buy rubbing alcohol that is 95% (or higher) isopropanol, than that will work fine for ear drying…which is what I now realize you are saying. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-my-ears-fill-with-water/418386/19 "2007-10-15T21:57:15Z")
[QUOTE=Kevbo] Your statement is accurate, but possibly confusing. When I first read it, I thought you were saying that 95% of the product is rubbing alcohol, and took exeception. Most “rubbing alcohol” is actually 30% water…not good in this application. If you take care to buy rubbing alcohol that is 95% (or higher) isopropanol, than that will work fine for ear drying…which is what I now realize you are saying. [/QUOTE] The question is moot. Even if it’s only 70% alcohol, it still does the job. And, in fact, the pharmacist first told me to use gin, which is less alcohol. The fact that a bottle of rubbing alcohol is 30% water isn’t going to change the effect. (And that water is sterile.) The alcohol will cause ALL the water in the ear canal to evaporate. Ordinary, cheap, drug store rubbing alcohol IS good, and there’s nothing confusing about it. If you’re a daily swimmer, try it yourself.