THE EARS HAVE IT Part 2
By Corky Carroll
Last week I presented some information on an ear problem that many surfers have commonly called “Surfers Ear.” Something that has come into my life many times. It frequently takes surgery to take care of this problem and I have had it done 5 times. The doctor who finally got mine under control is Dr. Carol Jackson of Newport Beach. I asked her to write about it for my column and last week she shared her thoughts on this problem. This week I am continuing with what she wrote for me, this time about Staph infections that are turning up more and more among surfers everywhere, but especially those here in the Orange County area. Here is what she has to say.
“A new development in the past year has been the rise in a certain potentially serious Staph. (Staphylococcus areas) infection, called MRSA, for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, that is on the rise in the community, and possibly in the southern California surf, especially off Huntington Beach. When recognized and treated early, it's not serious.
The problem is that it is resistant to most antibiotics, with a couple of oral (pill) exceptions (sulfa-trimethoprim and sometimes rifampin and/or clindamycin). It can require IV treatment by potentially toxic antibiotics including Vancyomycin and some other newer more experimental drugs. It can spread to other organ systems and lead to
septic (infectious) shock, stroke and loss of cardiac, kidney and other functions.
Perhaps you're familiar with the case of Timmy Turner, which was in Surfer magazine.His story and some video of him is on the web. He was treated at Hoag. It's still unclear,
and there's firm little data on it, but it looks like soft tissue wounds and fresh tattoos in ocean waters can be a source of entry for getting the infection.
There's a scientist at UCI who has been gathering data, and I've known two other surfers with it - - - one after exostoses removal, but unfortunately the waters are monitored
for fecal contaminants (coliforms) but not tested for Staph.
There is a carrier state in which a person has this Staph in their nasal and/or sinus passages, which can flare up. Soooooo, now before surgery I take a nasal swab for culture and sensitivity studies. If it's positive, it's straightforward to get rid of with Bactroban cream applied inside the nose for ten days, and/or by 10 days of oral antibiotics to which the culture shows sensitivity.
My own thought is that some surfers have acquired it in the community and due to good general health, either don't have much or might ignore headaches from sinus infections -- or are carriers with no symptoms -- maybe an occasional stuffy nose. Then when they surf and wipe out, the bacteria get flushed back up into the sinuses and Eustachian tubes to the temporal bone where low grade walled off infections can build up over time and can cause problems locally. The ear and sinuses have an ability to wall off infections--- for awhile.
A word of caution to So. Cal surfers - - Don't ignore severe headaches even if they clear up, and fevers even if they’re under 100 F. nausea, loss of energy or drainage from the nose or ear that has a foul odor, or color such as yellow, brown or green! Get checked by nasal culture and CAT scans. For soft tissue lesions than enlarge, become red and sore like boils, it could be MRSA. Get them checked and cultured. Play it safe and stay out of the surf if you have any sores, cuts, lesions, fresh tattoos or recent surgical incisions.”
Wow, that scares me. Especially after what happened to Timmy Turner. Timmy is one of our best young surfers here in Orange County and he almost died from this very kind of thing. It was touch and go for a long time and it had everybody who knows him saying prayers and holding their breath. This is not something to take lightly or joke about. It is becoming a serious concern for all of us who surf on a daily basis as well as for everyone who enters into the ocean along our shores. Don’t mess around with this. If you get any kind of symptoms get help as fast as possible.
CORKYS MANGO TANGO ~ THE WAVE
by Corky Carroll
I am so stoked. In my life I have been lucky to have been able to design stuff. Surfboards, clothing, wetsuits and even a house. But recently I got to do one that I had never thought of before and just for the pure fun, and flavor, of doing it. I got to come up with a flavor for my pal Mark Jones’s new frozen yogurt parlor that he is opening in Huntington Beach, Beach Cities Yogurt. They are having a huge Grand Opening sometime right around the beginning of February and it’s located in Huntington Beach just north of the corner of Brookhurst and Warner in the Wherehouse Records shopping center.
Mark Jones is a surfer, tennis player and chiropractor with an office in Newport Beach. He is the dude responsible for bringing my back back from the dead. He also is the owner of my very first cowboard. This has been good and bad for him. Some guys laugh at it and others want to pound him because they think it’s me and are holding some million year old grudge for some wave misunderstanding back in the 1840’s when you had to dodge arrows from the Indians on the beach and the only woodies were Conestoga’s. It’s a good thing Mark is bigger and younger than me.
Mark and I met a zillion years ago at a tennis tournament in Fullerton. He is an excellent player and was a nationally ranked junior when he was younger. He also played some major tournaments as a professional including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. He mentioned that he surfed and we started hanging out at Bolsa Chica together. I surfed better, he was a better tennis player… we started helping each other and became really good pals.
When I severely hurt my back about eight years ago surfing on Kauai, Mark was the only one that found a way to help it without me having to have major surgery and disk fusion. Probably, if it were not for him, I would not be surfing today, or at least not surfing freely and pretty much without pain. I still have flare ups from time to time but he has a really easy and quick treatment that relieves the pain and allows me to stay in the water. If you have back issues I strongly recommend you seeing him. Newport Beach Precision Health.
Not long ago Mark called me up to tell me that he, along with his beautiful girlfriend Lani Nguyen and her brother David, are in the process of opening this new frozen yogurt parlor with a Hawaiian decor and wanted to know if I wanted to custom design some sort of flavor that would be representative of the tropical latitudes that I tend to frequent on a regular basis.
Wow, I was stoked. I never got to do anything like that before. I have made up a few tropical drinks, yes, but never a blend for a frozen yogurt. And I love frozen yogurt too. I used to love ice cream and ate it by the half gallon, ok gallon, but now don’t eat it much because I am trying to stay as least fat as possible. That is hard for me too. But yogurt is a good alternative, tastes great and fills that desire for something cold and desert-like.
He was thinking something coconut. But I am a mango dude. I love mangos and eat fresh ones as often as I can find them. So we all got together and started mixing up some different blends. I have had mango flavored things before that tasted nothing like mango so I wanted to make sure that this had the real taste. And I also thought it would be nice to have it low in carbs.
After much experimenting and taste bud sensations we hit on it. Corkys Mango Tango. Yummmmmmm city. It’s really good. So they are going to have it on the menu along with eleven other rotating flavors. My fee for this is free yogurt for life. They may regret that. I could be there a few times a day, everyday.