Ears will not clear!

[cynsearles@hotmail.com]

Hello to my good friends at Scuba Board. It has been a while since I've been here and I have to say that the site looks great! Well Dr. Deco may remember me as he was able to solve my problem as to whether or not I was bent during my trip to St. Maarten. Needless to say my story had a happy ending as I received the help I needed here at Scuba Board.

When I was undergoing treatment for the bends the performed an operation (can't remember what its called) where they basically put to pin holes in the inner ear and drain the fluid. I was told by Doctors that my ears had healed nicely. I have since has a copule of successful dives in the Caribbean. However, I tried a dive here in Ontario (Canada) full suit in a quarry. Of course the water was a little chilly but we were suited so it was ok. I COULD NOT for the life of me equalize my ears. I tried unsucessfully 5 times (max depth was 15 ft depth for me) I could not get past that 1st pressure layer. I was in extreme pain for most of that evening and aborted the dive scheduled for the next day. Could this be as a result the operation that I had? It seems weird cause I have been ok in the Carribean. Can water temperature play a part in equalization? I start to equalize as soon as my face hits the water. Also I was wondering if any kind of decongestant like contact C or something would make it easier to get that passage way open? Any suggestions or advice would once again be very much appreciated.

Thanks all, I hope everyone is well!

 

[jbd]

slow descent rate. By that I mean literally 4 to 5 minutes for every15 to 20 feet of descent. It could be the colder water had you slightly tensed up. Be careful and don't push it. Given that you have had an injury that required surgery you should probably refrain from using meds unless approved by a diving physcian.

I hope things work out for you.

 

[madmole]

More likely the cold water hood and trying too hard to clear the ears resulted in "Reverse Ear", in this case the drums push outwards as the hood stops the transfer of pressure to the drums and you are forcing air up the Eustachian.

You should NEVER forcefully clear you ears. Better yet, dont clear then by squeezing the nose and blowing. Try a lot of jaw waggling and swallowing instead. Its easier, requires no hands, will not agravate a PFO and is all round better.

A lot of problems could be prevented if the agencies taught the other ear clearing manouvers first and only resorted to the valsalva as a last resort

 

[cynsearles@hotmail.com]

Hello again, thanks for the information, I thought I was descending rather slowly but now that you mention the time line I was going to fast and you are probably right about being tensed up ( I can't stand the cold!). I will try that on my next dive. As far as the reverse ear thing I don't belive that to be the case as is wasn't that cold to warrant a hood. Now that I think about the tense thing it was my first dive without a Dive Master just my husband who has been diving for twenty years who was standing at the bottom waiting for my descent so I could have been under a little pressure there. Thanks again I will try the slow decsent and thanks for the heads up on using meds.

Cyn

 

[madmole]

Wow, here in England if you could dive without a hood we would consider it luxouriuosly HOT.

I kinda just assumed you were wearing one when you said it was cold. Its just what youre used to I suppose

Good luck with the ears on the next dive

 

[ScubaFishee]

I didn't know about this. Can someone explain a little more about how much wearing a hood plays into equalizing your ears in cold water?

If after repeated attempts you still can't equalize, is it acceptable to pull your hood back to uncover your ears, equalize while descending, and then pull the hood back in place once you're down?

I hope this question doesn't sound silly, but I guess I'd rather ask and learn than to keep wondering and guessing.

 

[madmole]

We see a few cases of reverse ear here in the UK as everyone wears a hood. If the hood is an extremely tight fit or you have a good wax buildup or other blockage in your ears, then the rising water pressure cannot reach the eardrum. However the rising pressure is transfered to the inner ear by ear clearing so in this case the drum bulges outwards and can rupture

Lifting the hood will allow the full water pressure to reach the outside of the drum so would work, although the sudden cold water may give you vertigo for a few seconds

This should all be part of your basic training, but the standards are so low nowadays that its never covered

The leading cause of reverse ear though is misguided people who wear ear plugs to keep their ears dry and those who have a large wax buildup

I run a very large dive club for many years and saw a lot of people who had ear problems. In most cases the reasons were (in order)

1) Trying to clear, too hard and too late (you must clear gently and before any pain, and better still dont use the valsava)
2) Bad technique in clearing (going hrought the motions but no result)
3) Early cold stages (sinus blockage)
4) Wax build up
5) Other blockage (hood, knodules in ear, cysts etc)

I actually carry a aurascope on club dives (I'm a paramedic) that way I can have a quick look if someone has a problem and spot anything obvious, or send them off for proper medical advice

 

[ScubaFishee]

I'd never heard of reverse ear. I was just OW certified about three weeks ago and want to learn as much as I can about keeping safe and healthy while diving. Here in Michigan most divers also wear hoods, but the only thing mentioned about hoods before my cert dives was "make sure you have one."

The LDS where I got my equipment did helped me with getting a proper fit though.

Do you know of any books out there to help fill in some of the missing pieces of information that beginners should know but may not have gotten during training class?

I guess the hardest part is that I don't know what it is that I don't know.

 

[madmole]

I know what you mean. I've been diving 27 years and theres lots of things I still have to learn. The fact that you realise you are still learning means you'll do alright

Best general book on diving that covers all you need to know is the BSAC (British Sub Aqua Club) Novice Divers manual.

Look at www.bsac.com for details

There is also the US navy's manuals available for download on the web. Dont have the url on me at present but do a search.

 

[Dr Deco]

Many thanks to the readers for their replies. I do not have any ideas on this problem as it deals more with diving technique than it does with decompression physiology.

Dr Deco:doctor: