First surf with the new plugs!

I'm finally back in Cornwall after 10 days away in London (trade show) then Brighton (White Air festival) - both really succesful shows, we now have some new stockists nearer London as a result which is great.

I was itching to get back in the surf and thankfully today provided the goods. My new ear plugs from Rob at www.surfplugs.co.uk arrived last week and today I tried them out in a decent 4-5 ft swell at Polzeath. As a I first paddled out the sets were thumping through and lining up perfectly. After a few pummelings I'm pleased to say the ear plugs stayed in and no water made it through - so far so good. I had 3 really fun right handers early on but then sadly Polzeath switched quickly back to what it does best - fat, rippy and a bit gutless. Still I stayed in for a couple of hours had a few more fun ones and at the end of the surf assessed the ears - pretty much dry.

So through my years of surfing trying out NHS moulded plugs, docs pro plus, blu tac, whit tac, wax plugs and sillicone plugs, I can safely say my latest pair - SURFPLUGS - are the best. Coming in a close second is blu tac, but it's nice not to have to mould the plugs to your ear every time and my latest pair get me in the surf quicker. So we have a winner, why not check them out for yourselves and keep the surgery at bay with some plugs from these guys, well worth the investment. www.surfplugs.co.uk

New plugs!

Rob from ww.surfplugs.co.uk has just popped in to fit my new earplugs. Looks like they'll be the real deal, super watertight and shouldn't let in any water. He has to make them up first, so I'll keep you updated when I get them and give them a thorough test in the water.

Apologies for the lack of block posts lately, the main purpose of this blog is to record the diary of events post surfer's ear surgery, so a daily update on my ears may be a little excessive and not the most scintillating! It all seems to have settled down now (touch wood) although Rob informs me that my operated-on ear canal is still pretty narrow.

In other news, I'm off to London at the end of the week to exhibit the Ollypop wares at the Top Drawer trade show in Olympia. Then off to Brighton for the White Air festival - a busy few weeks.

On the surf front, looks interesting this week with some potential off-shore days and big swell due in mid-week - so until the new plugs arrive I'll be sneaking off for a quick surf with my trusty Blu-tak by my side!

2nd time back in, so far so good...

Its been a while since my last post and I’m pleased to say that touch wood my ear has been OK since hitting the surf. I had my second surf last night since the op and so far so good. The waves were OK, not great – a choppy 3-4 ft – but it was so good to get in.

I paddled out nursing a hangover from the night before (a mates' stag do in Newquay) and after the first couple of duck dives the hangover was gone! Amazing how the ocean manages to cleanse you back to normal. Added to that a couple of hours after the surf I was charged back up with all the positive ions the sea seems to provide and a day later I’m still feeling pretty good – as surfers we really are a fortunate bunch.

In Ollypop land, we had a busy weekend at the Brighton Paddle Round the Pier and its now back to the sales getting new stockists and re-stocking existing ones. The feedback is good, re-orders are coming in and generally the retailers are happy - amazing what a bit of sun does and its in stark contrast to this time last year. Sadly the weather isn't quite playing ball at the moment but hopefully its just a minor blip before the summer heat wave returns!

Plenty of waves this week, lots of wind too which isn't so great, but I may just have to sneak off to a sheltered spot for a quick session or two.

Back in the water!

First time back in the water in just a over 5 weeks which was fun. Pretty mellow surf, and with the sun out it was a very pleasant return.

I plugged up with white tack which seemed to do the job, but I have to admit some water did get in which is concerning me slightly today as my ear has begun to feel a little bit uncomfortable. Its doing the itchy, occasional sharp pain thing which is usually the prelude to an ear infection...lets hope I'm wrong.

Surf looks fun again today and I'm tempted to hop in tonight but maybe that's pushing it, will make the call a bit later.

In my other world, I've been busy preparing for the Brighton Paddle Round the Pier Festival this weekend. We'll have the Ollypop stand there with all the clothes and towels. Not sure there'll be too much call for the hoodies with this heat though but the forecast is in a favour with it cooling down at the weekend.

Got the all clear, time to hit the surf!

Except there's no surf ...yet (Monday?)!

Got the all clear from my ENT specialist Ms Grobellar (nice lady) who had a look in my lug hole, grumbled a bit about it not healing as well as it should have done but the main thing is she semi-reluctantly agreed to me going back in the water.

I'm under strict instructions to plug up as much as possible, not let a drop of water in and since I don't have moulded ear plugs yet I'll be opting for my trusty old friend Blu-Tack. Tried and tested time and time again, compared with all other temporary ear plugs, Blu-Tack just wins it every time! Some whizz kid working within the ranks of the famous poster adhesive ought to repackage it with an offering for all water sport enthusiasts - Ear-Tack?!

Blue-Tack, Blu-Tack, we love you, Blu-Tack.

Back in the water this week?

Well the ear seems pretty much back to normal and I'm due to see the ENT specialist on Wednesday who will hopefully give me the all clear to get back in the water again.

So I could be surfing again this week...but no, improbable. It seems huey isn't going to celebrate my return to the water with a nice swell. The Atlantic is full of highs and there doesn't seem much hope for any swell producing lows for a while. On the plus side, at least it will be sunny!

Stag do mayhem

"Olly has to go to the urinals and pee like a 2 year old, trousers round his ankles, no hands."

This was just one of the many tasks I had to carry out as stag over the weekend. We went to Wales, for a water sports weekend with Gower Kite Riders a great outfit run by my good mate Matt Smith. The water sports side of things was a bit limited for me me given that I wasn't allowed in the water with my ear still healing, but I did get a go on the Zap cat and even managed a paddle on the stand up paddle board without falling in.

But the main events were the Friday and Saturday nights out in Swansea, where I, as the stag was well and truly stitched up! Each of my 'mates' took it upon themselves to write down 2 forfeits each for me to pull from a bag every half hour or so. These ranged from asking a burly Welsh lad from the valleys if he liked 'sheep' or 'women' (resulted in a head lock for me) to dangling my extremities in a pint for 2 minutes (the pint incidentally was nabbed by one Welsh lass who delighted in her free pint leaving all in shocked silence!). Aside from my delightful forfeits I also ended up in a wheelie bin, had my boxer shorts wedgied over my head and hung on a banister, and found myself hurled into a bush that happened to be full of bricks!

Fortunately I survived and although somewhat bruised, managed to keep my dodgy ear dry which incidentally is now almost totally pain free and full hearing recovered. Two weeks to go until I can hit the surf again...

The show is over but I'm still hearing in mono!

Well that was a pretty hectic few days at the Cornwall Show but worth it with the Ollypop hoodies and towels proving popular. By day three all the team were pretty knackered but feeling nicely toned from the countless pop-up demos we had to give! I reckon I totalled around 200 pop-ups but aside from working well as a surf aid, the towels really do double up as a good surf exercise routine.

Anyway, the ear is now painless which is good but still the hearing is intermittent. It feels a bit like having water in my ear - every now and again it unblocks and for a few blissful moments I can hear in stereo before going back to mono again. When I do finally get full hearing back again I won't be taking if for granted that's for sure.

Oh, I did promise a photo of the packing which came out last Wednesday so here it is - not as spectacular as I'd hoped!

Was reasonably painless having it taken out but the ear did bleed a bit and I've had blood oozing out on the pillow at night.

Anyway, the good news is that I should be back in the water in 3 weeks time and it's flat at the moment so I'm not missing much.

Show time...

Well it's been a manic few days getting ready for the Cornwall show and then exhibiting over the last 2 days has been even more manic! Lots of great feedback and people generally very positive about the towels and our new clothes so all good. But lots still to do tonight and my manic-ness has meant slackness on the blog hence no update for a while.

Here's a few pics of the stand and helpful helper Jo Jo wearing her new Ollypop hoody

Still to come - a delightful picture of the packing taken out of my ear. Pretty weird sensation having that out and I've got to say my hearing is still pretty muffled with it out but hoping that will improve!??

Light at the end of the tunnel...

Had a great weekend. Saturday I felt almost normal again, ear still throbbing but at least the sea sickness had gone! Went down to the beach with the family which was a bit torturous with perfect 2-3 ft waves peeling in on the offshore breeze. Ended up having a few beers with friends in the sunshine so all was well.

Sunday was a bit hardcore with a small hangover, ear throbbing again and I had to look after my daughter plus my mate's 6 month old and 2 year old - all on my tod! At one point all three were screaming for half an hour and for once I was grateful for the 6 tampons worth of packing in my ear!

Anyway, on the Ollypop front I picked up the new clothes today which look great and things are slowly shaping up for the Cornwall show. Also confirmed that Sharps will provide us with free beer for the duration (Ollypop sponsorship deal - very important!) so come along to our stand (458) to sample some beer and check out the new gear.

Ear packing coming out on Wednesday, it's getting a bit smelly now... there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel.

Curiosity killed the cat...

Constantine surf report: "An offshore breath is blowing gently over those sunkissed wave tops this morning, helping to groom the three feet or so of swell into corduroy lines of reeling glass. Yep, it's a beauty one this morning, with a cloudless sky, the lightest easterly breeze and a steady three foot or so swell steadily rolling onto the recently re-modelled and re-shaped beaches."

Yep, I've done it again and looked up the surf report. It's sunny, offshore and I'm pretty sure I know of a fun sand bank that's less than 2 miles from here doing its thing! Surfer's ear sucks!!

Same again yesterday, throbbing ear with constant weird noise - oddly enough I can hear my pulse when all goes quiet. Slight improvement today and off to have my stitches out later.

Panicking slightly with last minute preparations for the Cornwall show next week. The Ollypop stand is not yet made, clothes not ready and we're not sure if we'll have enough staff for the 3 days! Joy.

Anyway, I'm off to do some more work. It's not sunny out there and the surf is rubbish.

7 days 'till the packing comes out...

Groundhog day again. Struggled to sleep and woke up with pain killers having worn off feeling like someone has sand papered my ear canal overnight! Still got the 'just stepped off a ferry' feeling so keeping dizzy spin outs to a minimum today by staying horizontal.

As the third time that surfing has put me on the operating table I've got to say that this takes the biscuit as the worst. The first time was when I had to have my sinuses drilled out following a blockage. Admittedly the pain up to the operation was quite intense and kept me out of the water as the sinus pressure from duck diving was like an axe in the forehead. But I remember that almost immediately after the op, the relief far outweighed the pain.

The second time under the knife was as a result of snapping my cruciate ligament in my knee. Out surfing at Trebarwith, I took off on a close-out, tried to pull out by smacking the lip on the way but came off worse. With my knee unnaturally bending backwards, I managed to hobble out of the surf to my car where upon my knee now resembled that of an elephant! I drove home, burnt my clutch out in the process unable to change gear properly, and ended up at A & E. Little did I know that I would be out of the water for 18 months. I ended up having key hole surgery with a slither of my hamstring being grafted into my knee to replace my cruciate ligament. Although painful immediately after the op, the pain was still nothing in comparison to what's going on in my lug hole right now.

So anyway, it's 7 days until the packing comes out of my ear which I'm very much looking forward to. It's getting quite itchy now and will be nice to hear in stereo again.

I caught a glimpse of the weather map on the news today. By the look of that decent low pressure system and high sorting itself out by the end of the week, there will be some happy surfers about with a decent swell and sunshine to boot.
Go forth and enjoy, just make sure you wear ear plugs!

Day 4 - Looking forward to stereo sound...

Yet another rubbish night's sleep and no real change today. Ear still throbbing, hearing in mono getting tedious and the world still spinning nicely. Had several spin outs yesterday and it seems I'm going to have to wait a while before I stop feeling like I've just stepped off a ferry.

Had some friends over last night and chanced a couple of Stellas which weirdly enough made me feel more balanced! Looking forward to my new found medicine tonight.

8 days left until I have the packing taken out of my ear, can't wait, it's going to be nice to hear in stereo again. Got my stag do a week after that which is gonna be tricky given the fact that we're doing a pub crawl in the Mumbles on stand up paddle boards! Rumours abound that my caring mates will protect my ear by cling filming my head - something to look forward to.

Managed to get some work done in between the bouts of apparent seasickness. Lots to do for the Cornwall show next week as we'll have the Ollypop stand there for the first time. New 'Kipper's Knickers' gear arriving by the end of the week hopefully.

Anyway, got another wave of dizziness coming on so I'll leave you with a nice shot of my throbbing lug hole taken on my phone this morning....

Day 3 post drill - what's that oozing from my ear?!

Rubbish night's sleep, unable to sleep on my bad ear side, I'm having to adjust to sleeping on my left side which isn't my natural side so insomnia set in nicely last night! Nice and quiet when I'm lying down though, can't hear a thing apart from the low level ringing which is fast becoming my companion when all goes quiet.

I did finally get to sleep and woke up with aching sinus pain as well as the good old throbbing ear. My wife changed the dressing and was a little alarmed with the amount of blood and pussy looking liquid on the cotton wool. A quick call to the hospital confirmed that the puss was more likely to be the cream they stuffed in my ear with the dressing so hopefully it's not infected. They also said that with so much packing in the ear, sinuses are likely to be affected too - hence the sinus pain. Will try to take it easy today as I'm still a bit giddy on the feet with my balance seemingly affected too.

Anyway, out in the real world it seems I'm missing some decent sessions in the surf. It's about 3-4 ft today and by all accounts was pumping last night - note to self - stop checking the surf sites, especially Surfhog!

Also, the kind folk at surfplugs are going to sort me out with some decent moulded plugs when it's time to finally get back in the water. They look the mutts nuts (or should I say 'Kipper's Knickers'!) and they've got some pretty funky graphics too.






Pic left - Pretty sure my daughter is extracting the Micheal!

Day 2 post op

Well it's a stunning day here today, clear blue and plenty of sun. I won't be out and about much though as my ear is still throbbing and I'm still a little half cut from the anaesthetic. Managed to sleep OK despite the constant white noise in my ear - it's a little like the noise you get from going to a really loud rock concert or night club - I feel like I've fallen asleep next to an amplifier! I guess it's to be expected after 2 hours of constant drilling next to my ear drum. I can see why they say there's the risk of deafness now.

Just had to change the cotton wool plugging on the outisde of my ear (has to be done 3 times a day) and nearly ripped out some of the padding in there - there's apparently 3 sections of gorse padding stuffed in my ear to aid the healing process and keep the ear canal open while it heals.

Anyway, life goes on and there are far worse things that people are suffering right now so all things considered I'm pretty lucky really!

I will try to update this blog regularly up to the day I get back in the water so that people can get an idea of the experience and hopefully learn from it by wearing ear plugs. I can't recommend them more, although I have tried almost all ear plugs and never found any that totally stop the water so if anyone has any suggestions lets have them. (I've tried blue tac - one of the best solutions, doc's pro-plugs - flushed with water despite trying different sizes, bees wax - fell apart in ear and had to go to A&E 3 times to have bits poked out and moulded ear plugs - up there with the blue tac but still lets some water in.)

Link - nasty surfer's ear story http://www.surfplugs.co.uk/

Day of the drill!

Pics - Before (cacking it), just after (not loving life) and the finished article complete with packing and stitch.

Yesterday, I had to face up to what has been one of my biggest fears for a while - the mighty drill in the lug hole!

It all started over 12 years ago when I first started surfing. As a younger bloke, I was too busy having fun in the water to worry about wearing ear plugs. I did countless cold winters, with no plugs and no hood, until my first ear infection. On close examination at the docs, it was confirmed that I had exostosis (tiny bony growths) growing in my ear canal, in other words surfer's ear. It happens as a result of the cold water and wind that we encounter while surfing. I was given antibiotics and told to plug up next time I went in the water.

But it took me 2 or 3 more infections before I realised that plugging up was actually a very sensible idea. Now some years later, despite regularly wearing plugs and a hat, I finally had to succumb to the experts advice and have my exostosis drilled out (by this time my right ear was over 90% closed over).

That was yesterday which all started rather scarily with a discussion with the surgeon and ENT specialist about what was going to happen. A drill would be used (not a chisel as I had been previously told) which alarmed me first of all since I had heard various horror stories about the drill. They told me that they may have to cut the back of my ear and peal it forwards like a banana skin for better access. And they told me the possible risks - deafness, infection, and terrifyingly facial paralysis (they drill very close to the facial nerve).

Then it was off to the ward where I had to wait amongst the other patients, the hum drum of the hospital only broken by the occasional gurgling sound from the poor guy next to me getting to grips with his tracheotomy.

It wasn't until the afternoon when I finally had to put my surgery gown on and head to theatre. Lying on my bed, I contemplated a last minute escape but barely had I hatched my pathetic plan, when I was wheeled away for my anaesthetic. I woke up two and a half hours later in a complete daze, with a throbbing ear and people in recovery trying to have a conversation with me.

The specialist told me it had gone well but she had struggled to get rid of all of the exostosis due to my narrow ear canal. The operation had been a bit longer than expected (2 hrs) and she also informed me that she'd checked out my left ear and with that being 70% covered over, would be recommending the drill for him too - whoopee! (Wish I'd worn ear plugs earlier- doh!)

I stayed overnight in hospital and was picked up by my loving wife in the morning. Which brings me to now, Saturday afternoon, still spaced out from the anaesthetic and ear throbbing nicely (although pain killers are doing a pretty good job considering). The good news is that they avoided my facial nerve and managed to do the job without pealing my entire ear off - only one stitch for me. The bad news is that the surf is looking good later on in the week and I'm going to have to forget about surfing for a month or two. Oh well, I managed a year and a half off when I snapped my cruciate ligament surfing at Trebarwith, so 2 months should be OK. Besides, things are looking busy with Ollypop so at least I won't have the distraction of surfing!

Links - http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/content/articles/2007/03/06/surfers_ear_feature.shtml

Recommended plugs - http://www.surfplugs.co.uk/index.html

Positive outlook...

Another sunny day, no surf so got loads done! Had a good day chasing up our stockists, some good re-orders and people sounding a lot more positive than the media would like us to be with all the doom and gloom.

Went to Rock for a meeting with Sharps Brewery, they seemed pretty keen on taking the Ollypops to sell in their shop, so fingers crossed on that one. Stocked up the Beachhouse shop too, who set up an impressive looking display of Tinypops and kids hoodies.

Spammed!

Got into the office early today, cracking morning, it really feels like we've finally turned the corner weather wise.

Had a productive morning until some annoying spammer decided to email my entire address book with a simple message saying 'Hi there'! I had countless replies, many simply saying 'hello', and others replying somewhat bemused. Funnily enough it's been quite handy though, as many of those spammed are customers who replied with some nice testimonials about the towels and hoodies they've bought!

Managed to squeeze in a decent surf in the sunshine. Living 2 miles from the beach it's great when my local break is firing as it was today.

Less than 2 weeks to go until the Entrepreneurs Bootcamp which I'm now confirmed on. Its basically a 5 day immersion program, followed by 12 months mentoring designed to grow and nurture young entrepreneurs. There are 12 people on the program, each have to be sponsored financially by a business, in my case we've managed to secure Sun Micro systems as my sponsor.

Sponsorship wise I've also managed to secure Sharps Brewery who will very kindly provide free beer for our summer events. So far we'll have the Ollypop stand at The Cornwall Show, Brighton Paddle Round the Pier, Dartmouth Regatta and White Air - so if you fancy a free pint of Doom Bar while perusing the goods, make a note to come and see us!

My first ever blog post!

(Above) Sharky Oz - this is where my shark was looming!

(Above) Bali Fun - checking the surf at Serangan

Well this is my first ever post so it is a momentous occasion!

After a 5 week break in Oz and Bali, life is well and truly back to normal at Ollypop HQ. We're busy stocking the shops up in time for what is touted to be a busy summer down here.

Oz & Bali was great, surf in Oz wasn't epic but I did have a few good days surfing up near Forster. Sadly one of the best sessions was cut short courtesy of the men in grey suits. I was sat on my board in the lineup about 20o metres out when I spotted a dorsal fin about 10-15 metres away. I watched it, hoping to see it jump around like a playful dolphin, but to my horror it did the slow sinking thing as it headed towards us. I spun around and noticed all the other surfers paddling swiftly in, bunching up as one large group, and I swiftly joined them for the 5 minute paddle to safety. It's mad what goes through your head in that 5 minutes of panic paddling. Most of the time you find yourself looking round at the other surfers praying it'll be them and not you!

Funnily enough there was a pic in the paper the next day of a 3m Great White, taken on the same morning at the next beach round from where I was, so I'm claiming that as my shark!

While in Oz, Ollypop online sales were manic back home thanks to a repeat of our Dragons Den - Where Are They Now? episode. Kipper's Knickers hoodies and tees were the top sellers and we even ran out of stock on some lines. Apologies to those who received muddled orders, my old man was on the case and got a little flustered!

After Oz came Bali which was great. One week of pure surfing, guided by Wailin, fellow Surfs Up instructor.

And then back to Blighty in the snow, only to break down an hr after getting off the long haul flight from Bali. Not fun, wife and child not ecstatic, but we finally got going again 8 hrs and £250 later with a brand new alternator.