My left ear cannot equalize

[Blackeye]

Hi dear all,
I just back from first open dive.
I am back with tinnitus on left ear. My ear hurt and I have nose bleed underwater about 16m.

Doctor siad my left ear tube is born to be tight and block. Right ear is excellent. He advised me not to go diving ANYMORE.

Help! Help!
Anyone born with one side stupid ear like me?
or encounter this problem before?

Hope somebody can help me. I just find this a great cool sport and I have to stop doing. That's too sad.

BTW,
I am from Singapore

 

[theskull]

I have a diver friend who has a similar problem, and is an excellent diver.

He must descend slowly, and equalizes gently with every exhale on the way down. At times he tilts his head to the side to put the bad ear higher in the water column and that helps.

Antihistamines may also help.

Of course I deny having given any of the above information tidbits, and they are not to be taken as advice unless also confirmed by a physician.

theskull

 

[Blackeye]

Hi Theskull,
Thanks for sharing. I will check it out for the" Antihistamines "

One more Q:
When equalizing, must we hear the "pop' sound to show that it is equalized. another saying, no sound, not pass? Is this true?

Now, I am so concern about this equalizing matter.
Any methods are welcome and much appreciate.

Blackeye.

 

[ReeseTD]

I had a proble with my ear also, When I first started diving I could not get my right side to equalize. A trick that my instrutor showed me was to switch hands. So ever few feet i was pintching my noise with my right hand then my left hand. Why this helps me i have no idea but it dos. For the bleeding noise i dont know what to say about that one. But you should talk with a Doc that spec in ear/neck or a Dive Doc. Thy might have ways to open up your eustachian tube. I would not let one Doc stop me from Diving get another Doc advice proble one that is spec in the area that need to be looked at ie your eustachian tubes.
For the sound... i dont hear one but i do fill the change in my ears when i do get a good equalize.
I hope that you get things worked out and a OK from a Doctore to dive again. Just make sure you get the OK from the Doc first!

 

[d33ps1x]

I had a lot of trouble with my ears at the beginning as well and I still don't push it on descents or ascents. I'll never break any speed records but when I take it nice and slow BOTH directions I no longer have any issues with my ears. Considering I do an average of 4 dives a week along with 4 hours of pool time I'm happy with it.

I do find my descents getting faster all the time too. Taking it slow and practicing with my "small tubes" has improved their abilities. My tubes aren't railway tunnels yet but workin on it. Used to take 5-6 minutes to get to 100 or so feet and now I can do this in under 1 minute. No hyperweighted 10 second narc'ing descents but then I'm not into that stuff so no worries.

I think the major thing that helped me is taking it really really slow in the first 30 feet BOTH ways.

I'd also get a couple of second opinions on the no diving declaration. More specifically from an Ear nose throat doctor familiar with diving related injuries.

 

[MercutioATC]

I wound up with middle ear barotrauma after my checkout dives (no permanent damage). Here's what helped me:

I got an ENT who's a diver. He was great at suggesting different equalizing techniques. The Frenzel maneuver works for me better than the Vasalva maneuver (slight blow with nose pinched and a swallow, as opposed to just the blow). In addition, he prescribed 12-hour Sudafed and Flonase. Dives since have been much better. I still take 2-4 minutes to get to 20', but below that I have no issues.

Go see an ENT who knows divers' issues before you give up diving, but do NOT ignore equalization problems. Diving is great, but it's not worth going deaf.

 

[Blackeye]

Thank you so much Guys,

I will take all precious advise.

 

[chepar]

My right ear has problems equalizing - sometimes it takes me a loooong time to descend - as much as 5-8 minutes to descend down to 60 feet. I've learned to just take it slow - trying to force it to go faster doesn't work - makes it worse. A bleeding nose and ear pain probably indicates you were forcing it.

I've seen an ENT - besides a deviated septum which could be a contributing factor- there is no reason that he could find for my problem. He prescribed a 12 hr decongestant that I'm hesitant to use.

My buddy is familiar with this, and our agreed upon procedure is that I will descend as slowly as I need to - usually I'm above him doing a gradual descent. He'll stay within 20 feet (below me) and look up every so often until I join him.

 

[torbaydiver]

If your ears hurt you have gone down too far without equalising correctly and need to ascend until the pain stops and then try equalising again !
My left equalizes easily whilst I usually struggle with my right ear particularly if frequently changing depths!

 

[theskull]

If you do hear a pop, you waited too long to equalize. As soon as you start to feel pressure you relieve the pressure by equalizing. I often reach the bottom without even being aware of having equalized because doing it continuously has just become a habit, and rarely requires pinching my nose.

I remembered another tip for you and an encouraging fact:

Fact--the mechanics of equalizing are like any other muscle activity and become easier the more often you do it.

Tip--(related to fact) you can start equalizing the morning of the dive, every half hour or so, to get the muscles warmed up.

Happy and safe diving to you,
theskull