Question Open eardrum diving

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Diving Johan

Registered
Messages
7
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Location
Netherlands
# of dives
None - Not Certified
Hi everyone,

My left eardrum is open. After a surgery I had as a kid (almost 25 years ago), they decided to leave an opening at one side of my eardrum, to be able to inspect regularly and prevent similar ear infections.

I now have plans to get my diving's license, but I'm not sure whether the open eardrum allows me to do this safely.

Questions:
  1. Is it OK to dive with an open eardrum?
  2. If not, is there anything you could do to close off the ear? I read earplugs that seal off the ear completely are not advised, because it makes equalizing difficult. But as my eardrum is open, perhaps this is not an issue?

Looking forward to you replies :)

Johan
 
Hi Johan!

Probably you should consult your doctor to get a redirection to your ENT (KNO arts in Dutch). Many local diving instructors could also direct you to a specialized diving physician for a so-called 'duikkeuring'.
Also, the advice in your welcome thread, to contact DAN for your medical question is a good one.

My answers would be:

1. No, you don't want water behind the eardrum/in the ear. Infections, but also your vestibular system can be severely affected by exposure to cold or warm water (contact a specialist for sure....don't know if I'm correct on this).
I'm not sure how it would affect equalizing. Are you sure the eardrum is still open? Many kids get the little tubes, but after many years the eardrums close off completely again.
2. Not sure, again better to consult a specialist for your specific situation.
 
 
Scubapro makes a special mask equipped with ear cups, which communicate with the mask through small hoses, making the pressure to stay equalized.
This device avoids the risk of water penetrating your medium ear.
But if, for any reason, you need to remove the mask underwater, you risk the adverse effects caused by water penetration.
So, despite a valid technical solution is available, I am not suggesting that you rely solely on it.
I would evaluate the possibility of some kind of surgery for closing your eardrum.
Here the Scubapro mask: ProEAR™ 2000 Scuba Mask - EAR Customized Hearing Protection
 
Yeah, I was going to mention the ProEar mask. I don't recommend it - as noted, it really means that if the mask comes off you might have an ear injury or acute vertigo. And a diver need to be able to tolerate having the mask removed.

Tympanoplasty (closing the hole) may or may not be an option. If the OP still has a perforation (or a history of cholesteatoma, which is sort of what it sounds like), then there may be underlying problems with that ET.

Bottom line - I would defer to your otologist, but I think having an unfixable TM perforation is a good reason not to start diving if you aren't doing it already...
 
Thanks for all the replies! I'm going to call an ENT doctor and also try to get in contact with a "specialized diving" doctor or ENT via DAN.

Recently I had a medical check, where they could see the opening was still there, but I will check with the ENT whether closing it is an option. Since the surgery many years ago I've not had any infections, so perhaps it is now OK to close that opening.

The ProEar mask sounds promising, but I agree you need to be able to tolerate water coming in the mask and in your ear...

In theory, if you would be able to close off the ear with the open eardrum perfectly - so without the equalizing channels the ProEar mask have - would equalizing be possible? Since the eardrum is open, I was thinking perhaps pressure in the ear is always equalized?

Cheers, Johan
 
Thanks for all the replies! I'm going to call an ENT doctor and also try to get in contact with a "specialized diving" doctor or ENT via DAN.

Recently I had a medical check, where they could see the opening was still there, but I will check with the ENT whether closing it is an option. Since the surgery many years ago I've not had any infections, so perhaps it is now OK to close that opening.

The ProEar mask sounds promising, but I agree you need to be able to tolerate water coming in the mask and in your ear...

In theory, if you would be able to close off the ear with the open eardrum perfectly - so without the equalizing channels the ProEar mask have - would equalizing be possible? Since the eardrum is open, I was thinking perhaps pressure in the ear is always equalized?

Cheers, Johan
Yes, with the eardrum open the pressure is always well equalized. But if you allow water entering the medium ear, you will suffer a large number of problems, as others already pointed out.
On the other side, if you close the ear duct with a plug or the like, you risk that the water pressure forces the plug inside your skull: possibly even worst than water...
Also using a not-pressurized ear cup is not recommended, this will become a "suction cup" underwater, causing capillary ruptures and haemorrhage in the part which is not at the same pressure as the rest of your body. Again, possibly worst than water entering into the medium ear.
The equalized cups of the Pro-ear mask, instead, do not present any significant danger, while they are in place. The risk is if you need to remove them, and descending further. Doing so, water will flow in. That's the reason for which we are not recommending this solution in presence of a pervious tympanic membrane (they are a good solution for people who have other reasons for not having water inside their ear ducts).
So I will follow the recommendations of your Scuba-aware ENT (in my experience "normal" ENTs have not enough knowledge for providing proper guidance).
The real solution in your case could be some sort of "tympanoplastic", or whatever such surgical procedure is named in your country.
I did know a couple of free divers who had this procedure performed successfully, after rupture of the tympanic membrane occurring during deep free diving in variable asset (which means descending VERY quickly attached to a weight).
In practice, some skin is cut away in some other part of your body and used for reconstructing the missing tympanic membrane.
@doctormike can be more precise than me on this procedure.
 
The issue is that a free diver who perforates their eardrum from barotrauma will typically heal in a short time, because the underlying ET has been functioning fine up until now. Usually no tympanoplasty necessary. On the other hand, someone who has had a tympanic membrane perforation for 25 years may not have normal underlying ET function. So for that reason, it might not heal, even with tympanoplasty.
 
Scubapro makes a special mask equipped with ear cups, which communicate with the mask through small hoses, making the pressure to stay equalized.
This device avoids the risk of water penetrating your medium ear.
But if, for any reason, you need to remove the mask underwater, you risk the adverse effects caused by water penetration.
So, despite a valid technical solution is available, I am not suggesting that you rely solely on it.
I would evaluate the possibility of some kind of surgery for closing your eardrum.
Here the Scubapro mask: ProEAR™ 2000 Scuba Mask - EAR Customized Hearing Protection
Right mask - wrong manufacturer!
 
The issue is that a free diver who perforates their eardrum from barotrauma will typically heal in a short time, because the underlying ET has been functioning fine up until now. Usually no tympanoplasty necessary. On the other hand, someone who has had a tympanic membrane perforation for 25 years may not have normal underlying ET function. So for that reason, it might not heal, even with tympanoplasty.

Ok, I'll talk to several ETN'S and see what is possible. It might off course be possible that it's not going to work in my case.

With ET function, you mean the eustachian tube function? What's the reason that influences tympanic membrane healing after tympanoplasty?
 

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