My brother has an above ground swimming pool that 1) His new puppy loves mudding under (they’ve put in gravel now to stop this), and 2) That often causes earaches when water gets in his ear.

Another brother offered a tip:  Put a drop of alcohol in the ears to clear out the water.  Apparently it works.  Not sure I’d want to try it though!  My solution was to hop on the foot opposite the ear that’s affected while tilting my head to allow the water to run out.  It also seems effective.

Swimmer Ear Remedies reports that alcohol is indeed a good option.  In addition, a hair dryer set to warm (not hot) can be used to dry the water.  But be careful… if you have swimmer’s ear you need to seek medical attention.  How can you tell?

Use this simple test to see if you have swimmer’s ear: grab your ear and pull it forward gently, and wiggle it. If the pain increases you more than likely have an ear problem that can be helped with one of the following remedies. If the pain stays the same, you may have a middle ear problem which will need medical attention.

Nothing hurts worse than an earache.  Except maybe a toothache.  Or a gall bladder attack.