Hello everyone
I would like to seek advise from someone who has suffered the same pathology. Sorry if there are mistakes, English is not my mother language.
I started diving this year (certified by PADI in February) and since then I’ve performed 42 dives. When I started I didn’t know I would like this sport so much, now all I think about it’s next time I can go diving (sadly for me sea it’s far away from where I live).
Prior to starting the OWD I was worried because years ago I got a tiny hole eardrum with a subsequent middle ear infection. I was very unlucky and due to that my tympanic membrane now is weaker than it should be (it’s called atrophic or flaccid tympanic membrane). The ENT told me that a healthy eardrum should have three layers, mine only has one so when I equalize the left eardrum instead of going back to normal it stays in a bulged position, like an inflated balloon.
From the first dive to the 35th it went really well, I had no problems at all (I didn’t know I had the problem in the left eardrum), but in one dive I felt something was wrong and I surfaced. Performing Valsalva I noticed air was coming out from my ear, so again I had another tiny perforation (no hearing loss, it healed in two months). I went to the ENT and performed some test, but it had to heal. When the hole closed I started diving again, 7 dives nothing special about them.
Few days ago I went back to the ENT and it was at that moment when he told me for the first time that my eardrum is atrophic. Because it is weaker than a heathy eardrum it is more prone to perforations and advised me not to dive again. There was nothing that it could be done to solve that.
When he told me that I was devastated. I really don’t conceive my life now without diving. In 42 dives I only had one problem, and I really think it was my fault. It’s true that a perforation underwater it could be a really serious problem, but I think that being cautious I could continue diving. Now I’m using the pro ear mask and it works really well. There has been two or three times that I refused to dive because I didn’t feel good. If I think there’s going to be a problem I prefer to stay on the boat, I don’t like taking unnecessary risks.
I will seek the advise of a diving ENT, but in the meantime I would like to read you thoughts, and if someone with the same issue could give me an advise o would be really grateful. I really don’t want to stop diving.
Thank you for reading
I would like to seek advise from someone who has suffered the same pathology. Sorry if there are mistakes, English is not my mother language.
I started diving this year (certified by PADI in February) and since then I’ve performed 42 dives. When I started I didn’t know I would like this sport so much, now all I think about it’s next time I can go diving (sadly for me sea it’s far away from where I live).
Prior to starting the OWD I was worried because years ago I got a tiny hole eardrum with a subsequent middle ear infection. I was very unlucky and due to that my tympanic membrane now is weaker than it should be (it’s called atrophic or flaccid tympanic membrane). The ENT told me that a healthy eardrum should have three layers, mine only has one so when I equalize the left eardrum instead of going back to normal it stays in a bulged position, like an inflated balloon.
From the first dive to the 35th it went really well, I had no problems at all (I didn’t know I had the problem in the left eardrum), but in one dive I felt something was wrong and I surfaced. Performing Valsalva I noticed air was coming out from my ear, so again I had another tiny perforation (no hearing loss, it healed in two months). I went to the ENT and performed some test, but it had to heal. When the hole closed I started diving again, 7 dives nothing special about them.
Few days ago I went back to the ENT and it was at that moment when he told me for the first time that my eardrum is atrophic. Because it is weaker than a heathy eardrum it is more prone to perforations and advised me not to dive again. There was nothing that it could be done to solve that.
When he told me that I was devastated. I really don’t conceive my life now without diving. In 42 dives I only had one problem, and I really think it was my fault. It’s true that a perforation underwater it could be a really serious problem, but I think that being cautious I could continue diving. Now I’m using the pro ear mask and it works really well. There has been two or three times that I refused to dive because I didn’t feel good. If I think there’s going to be a problem I prefer to stay on the boat, I don’t like taking unnecessary risks.
I will seek the advise of a diving ENT, but in the meantime I would like to read you thoughts, and if someone with the same issue could give me an advise o would be really grateful. I really don’t want to stop diving.
Thank you for reading
