Swimming with tinnitus

[MarkWilliam]

Hi everyone,

I have a knee injury and part of the physio will be swimming.

Will the regular half-hour sessions immersed in chlorinated water exacerbate my tinnitus to any extent?

Thanks in advance.

Kind regards,

Mark

[TinnitusUKPat Partner]

Hi Mark

On the face of things, the honest answer is that you won't know until you try.

Having said that, it depends a bit on what effect you are concerned about? Is it water getting into the ear canal and having an unwanted effect? That might be a situation which can be mitigated by using good quality swimmer's earplugs.

Have you noticed previous periods of exercise to worsen your tinnitus? If that is the case, how long was this for? Did your tinnitus return to a baseline level shortly after you finished the exercise?

We would normally suggest that exercise is a good form of distraction and I would guess is being viewed by your physiotherapist as a good way to aid your knee's recovery with gentle, supportive activity.

Everyone's experience of tinnitus is different and there's no guarantee that people will encounter negative effects from carrying out an activity which is new.

[MarkWilliam in reply to TinnitusUKPat]

Many thanks Pat for your kind response.

I've just ordered some Bollsen Watersafe+ ear-plugs from Germany so I'll be giving it a try, as you suggest.

Thanks again.

Mark