{"id":482573,"date":"2026-06-04T11:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T11:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/482573\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T11:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T11:05:10","slug":"harry-enfield-says-wild-swimming-habit-has-caused-him-serious-ear-condition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/482573\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Enfield says wild swimming habit has caused him serious ear condition"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Plunging yourself into cold water is an increasingly popular wellness activity believed to improve mental and physical health \u2013 but for Harry Enfield<\/a>, it\u2019s had an adverse effect.<\/p>\n

The comedian, 65, has spent years taking daily swims in nippy temperatures, but doctors told him he\u2019d developed health issues with his ears as a consequence.<\/p>\n

Enfield was recently diagnosed with exostosis, which is more commonly known as \u201csurfer\u2019s ear\u201d. <\/p>\n

The NHS<\/a> lists the condition as \u201cthe abnormal growth of bone in the ear canal caused by repeated exposure to cold water and wind\u201d, noting it can cause hearing loss and infections.<\/p>\n

He learnt the news while getting fitted for hearing aids. The comedy star, best known for his creations such as Kevin the Teenager and Loadsamoney, told Off Menu<\/a> podcast: \u201cI\u2019m partially deaf and, because I swim in Highgate Ponds, I\u2019ve got stalactites in my ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enfield continued: \u201cThey\u2019ve got tiny little hearing aids you can get now and apparently they\u2019re very good. They cost a fortune, but they\u2019re worth having. So I went to get them fitted.<\/p>\n

\"HarryHarry Enfield says cold water swimming has left him with serious ear condition (YouTube)<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018No, you\u2019ve got big bones \u2013 stalactites \u2013 that have grown in your ears. Do you do a lot of fresh water swimming?\u2019 I said, \u2018Well, yeah.\u2019 They said, \u2018Ah, that\u2019s what it is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Enfield said that the stalactites can be \u201cchopped off\u201d, but suggested he\u2019d \u201csooner not hear what you\u2019re saying\u201d to avoid the \u201cpainful\u201d surgery.<\/p>\n

Cold water swimming has risen in popularity in the last few years, with a study in 2024 estimating that around 1.2 million Brits had joined a local group specialising in the activity.<\/p>\n

Famous figures who have extolled the virtues of the trend include Harry Styles, Nick Cave and Kate Middleton,<\/p>\n

\"HarryHarry Enfield discovered the condition while being fitted for hearing aids (Getty)<\/p>\n

According to Mark Harper, medical adviser to the Outdoor Swimming Society and Consultant Anaesthetist at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, cold water swimming can \u201cproduce positive health benefits and give us the confidence and physical and mental ability to endure other stresses in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Researchers have also found that menopausal women who regularly swim in cold water report significant improvements to their physical and mental symptoms \u2013\u00a0and the activity is found to improve menstrual symptoms.<\/p>\n

But experts believe that the benefits are merely anecdotal and can be subjective as responses vary from person to person. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482574,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-482573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482573\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}