A ruptured ear drum can take a long time to heal. Sometimes scar tissue remains and limits the hearing. It’s absolutely reason to get a referral for the ENT specialist who should check the healing progress and prescribe medication as long it is needed. Sometimes they do a small operation to repair the ruptured eardrum when it doesn’t heal spontaneously. My girl with Down Syndrome had for many years infections on her ears ever since she had grommets placed. We got rid of the grommets and she goes far better.

Second the referral to an ENT, they will be able to give you some better answers about duration of infections and reoccurrence. Hope they’re on the mend.

For future swimming I would suggest ear plugs and a swimming cap. It does wonders in protecting little ears.

Poor little girl – ear pain is awful. Ears can take quite a while to heal and glad she is being reviewed. Maybe a referral to an ENT if it has not cleared. Always good to get a second opinion.

my child always used to have ear infections but fortunately has not had any for 2-3 years now. so perhaps some grow out of it.

Last year, my 12 year old had another ear infection after swimming. The GP treated it with 4 lots of antibiotics and drops before referring him to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist. The specialist syringed his ears to get rid of a wax build up then diagnosed his infection as being fungal rather than bacterial and changed treatment. He had a partial ruptured ear drum also. The specialist said the GP had done the right thing to start with, but his equipment allowed the right diagnosis and treatment. It probably took 4 months to feel completely better and not sensitive any more. Normally, my kids take 1 or 2 boxes of antibiotics to get over an ear infection and one of my other kids have Waxol drops about once a year to get rid of an excess of wax (his hearing gets bad then his ear gets sore).
To me, 20 days is a long time and serious. I hope the review gives you some good news or a referral to an ENT specialist to seek further treatment. Good luck.

If swimming best to use ear plugs even blue tac can be used stops watergeting in ear, as if already damaged ,prevention is better than cure Hope this helps

I used to get horrible ear infections as a kid and I was a keen swimmer. It was very annoying. I found that medication and drops helped and then later on I started wearing ear plugs.

Should recover with medication in a week or two. If not I would be getting it check per again or specialist.

you can get those drops that dry the water up out of the ears, after swimming

I remembered my son has pus coming out of his ears when he was young doing swimming lessons and during the recovery time ( about 1-2weeks ) , he wasn’t allowed in the water and was on meds . After that, I just bought earplugs and he never had that again .

That must be so annoying. In the future maybe it could help to buy ear plugs to wear while she swims. Wish her all the best!!

It is possible your child has picked an infection in the pool water. Another option is your child may be allergic to chemicals in the pool, causing her ear to become inflamed then an infection set in. We pulled one of ours out of swimming lessons and tried just taking them to the beach. If there is a slat water pool available, maybe try that option after her ear infection clears up