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Joel, not only is it almost impossible to keep water out of your ears when diving at several atmospheres of pressure, it is unnecessary. Don't go barking up the wrong tree. From what you have written, I would guess that your problem was due to otic barotrauma (pressure damage the to the...

The possbilities are: 1) Debris in the ear canal. (Unlikely, in my opinion.) 2) Eustachian incompetence. (Inability to equalise the pressure in the middle ear with ambient due to blockage of the Eustachian canal. Can you make your eardrum pop?) 3) Barotrauma - which can range from...

I ask this question as a dive medical examiner who has just been faced with a person with this condition, wanting to do an open water course. She is 58 years old and not particularly fit. I'm not sure what her motivation for diving is. She is treated with a low dose of a medication...

What to the diving docs think about a person diving with the condition "prolonged QT interval"? Thanks

Thanks for your replies. To continue the hypothetical. Let's say there was no clear history of trauma and hospital records are not available. (>40 years ago.) So it may have been a spontaneous pneumothorax at the age of 4. (A little unusual.) If the high res scan is clear, is there...

A hypothetical for any diving docs out there. A guy rings you and says that he wants a dive medical but has been refused by a dive examiner elsewhere. He is 44 years old, fit and active, engaging in a variety of aquatic sports. At the age of 3 or 4 years, he had a "collapsed lung" or...

So, if I understand you correctly, the scenario is this: Unilung is pottering about at 20 metres, suddenly feels pain in chest. "uh-oh, looks like I have another pneumothorax!" Commences gentle ascent, while unsheathing chest needle. Shrugs off tank, unzips wet-suit, palpates...

Unilung, you already seem to know the dangers of sustaining a pneumothorax at depth, so I won't go into that. The main issue with spontaneous pneumothorax is risk of recurrence. This is estimated as between 25% and 50%. Diving's great fun but it's not worth dying for. Shallow diving...

There is a physiological barrier which separates the brain from the rest of the body. It's called the blood-brain barrier. Technically, the brain is protected by three membranes (dura mater, pia mater and arachnoid). The innermost of these, the arachnoid, also coats the small capillaries...

Malarone, one of the newer anti-malarials, is very good. It's effective, extremely well tolerated and has an excellent side-effect profile. However, it is expensive. (Probably about US$8 per tablet.) There's also another consideration. The malarial situation is dynamic. New drugs...

You haven't been mounting your stage bottles on your nipple rings, have you? Anyway, I reckon Rectinol cream would help.

They don't stay on in the water. (No matter what they say.) But UV rays don't penetrate to any depth, so that's OK. So dry yourself off when you come up, and apply the sunscreen again. Wear a broad brimmed hat. Being on the ocean is pretty full-on in terms of UV exposure, because you get...

Sorry rmediver2002 - posts overlapped.

Pulmonary barotrauma is trauma to the lung, caused by the pressure of expanding gas. The volume of a gas is inversely proportional to the pressure to which it is subjected. (Boyle's Law.) As you descend deeper under water, you are subjected to progressively greater pressure. (Pressure...

Might as well dish up the current orthodox medical view. I presume by "saddle pain" you mean pain across the lower lumbar region. The vast majority of simple uncomplicated back strains (which is what you probably have) will resolve with or without treatment. Rest if necessary, but not...

I was not aware of an association, though if you put yourself through an aquabatic workout, you could have dislodged a resting otolith. I expect you've Googled the topic but if not, here's a good link. http://www-surgery.ucsd.edu/ent/PatientInfo/info_bppv.html Note in particular...

Diclofenac is an anti-inflammatory. (I presume your doctor said "inflamed" rather than "infected".) Often causes gastric irritation and should be taken with food. Safe to dive with, provided your health is otherwise normal. In your OP you said: "Two weeks later still swollen but no...