I just went swimming at a pool and now my ears are plugged - after a few hours?

Question

I went swimming from approximately 1:30pm to 4pm today, and I dived deeper than I normally do. I've swam before and never received a condition in this state (last year during the summer, I'd swim almost every day). I haven't swam in about a month this year, but today I got out of the pool with no problems (besides difficulty breathing, which goes away with time). However, 4 HOURS LATER (keyword here that separates my problem from others'), my right ear is feeling blocked a bit. I tried hopping and tilting my head for a bit. No help. It increasingly becomes blocked with time, and when I put water or a bit of olive oil in it, it gets worse or does nothing. I lied down in the direction of that ear for about half an hour. Nothing.

My questions are:

1) I already know about seeing an ear doctor and getting Swim Ear treatment. I'd like to know if this problem will go away first before I spend money on it.

2) If it doesn't go away, what are the chances of this developing into an infection?

Answer 1

well i'm no doctor.. but i've definetly had swimmer's ear a few times.  when i do get swimmers ear the clogged feeling for me lasted until the next day, then i felt occasional pain in my ear and my mom (who is a doctor) looked at it and told me i had swimmers ear, which is an ear infection caused by having moisture in your ear.  i know you said you already know about this, but you can get swim ear treatment over the counter at most grocery/drug stores.. if you dont want to go to the store, you can use rubbing alcohol, but too much can overdry which can also irritate your ear.  if you do feel water in your ear you should try to get it out because swimmers ear is common and easy to get.  also, you may have damaged your eardrum if you dived too deep and didnt equalize underwater, if you think that is the case and the clogged feeling persists for more than a couple days, then i would consider seeing an ear nose and throat doctor.

Answer 2

This may sound strange but if I feel the blocking of my hearing when I'm getting out of the pool due to water or popping from depth I hit the side of my head/ear on the surface of the water. The sudden suction pulls the water and clogging out.

Answer 3

It could be swimmers's ear in which case you should obviously go to a doctor. Another option is this. I had the same problem once a little while back. This may sound strange but put the hairdryer on low or cool, tilt your head, and let the blowdryer sit so that the moisture can evaporate. It worked for me!