Pritt Tak: another hazard of grommets and swimming

There is argument about whether, whilst swimming, water should be excluded from ears which have middle ear ventilation tubes in place in the tympanic membrane. The adhesive putty substance BLU-TACK (registered Trade Mark, Bostik Ltd, Leicester, England, LE4 6BW) has been suggested as an effective ear plug for this purpose. A case is described in which an alternative adhesive putty substance was used as a waterproof plug. The result was that the plug became semi-solid and impossible to remove without the use of micro instruments and removal would have required general anaesthetic in a less co-operative patient. Patients should be warned of this risk.