WATER IN THE EARS

[divegoddess]

I could no longer resist. Pain in your ears is usually an indication of an infection, medication is the only answer. Now water in your ears and preventions of ears problems, I have a suggestion that works for me. There is an over the counter, glicerin based, anti fungil, PH balanced solution call STAR Otic. I am a very active instructor who works in less than clean pools and dives in some really funky places. I had so many ear infections I could not count them. A medical Dr. told me about Star Otic and I use it before and after diving. I have had great success with it. Good luck

 

[hitomi316]

after several dives, my right ear only got worse as far as being "plugged". so i went to my doc and all he did was tell me to use Sudafed and drink plenty of water. it took three days and the "plugged" feeling was gone! so, the morning of the dive i take my sudafed and everything is just fine!=-)

 

[plr0]

Ldreamin once bubbled...
Starfish... the vented earplug is a plug that goes in the ear but has a very small hole thru the center which allows you to clear your ears while keeping the water out.

Where can I get vented earplugs? I went on my first dive vacation this month - to Bonaire - and spent the week and at least 10 days after returning with the feeling that there was water in my left ear, no pain, just plugged feeling. Alcohol drops didn't help, eventually the feeling went away.

 

[Wordmonger]

I have a long, ugly history of ear infections -- many landed me in the hospital -- and when I was learning to dive, I thought I would literally die from water in my ears. After my OWDs, I knew I had to do something because I could not go through this. (I had my head hanging upside down draining water out of my ears for almost 9 hours after the first day.) So I got on the Internet and also called DAN, which hooked me up with an ENT who is also a diver. Here is what I found out on my own and from him:

1. Unless the ENT is a diver, he/she won't understand what we're talking about;

2. Instead of putting a few drops into your ear, cup your hand, pour alcohol into it, put that on your ear, faltten your hand and pull it free hard, creating a suction that pulls out the alcohol and the water (his first words to me were: You're going to think this is nuts, but it works; the second thing he said was that surfers do this routinely only they use saltwater);

3. My ears apparently are designed in such a way that there is a little bend in there behind which water can -- and does -- pool.

Here is what I found out on my own. And it works.

1. There are scuba earplugs -- called Doc's Proplugs http://www.proplugs.com/ -- they are wonderful! You call them and they send a sample pack and you select the one that fits your ear.

2. The ProEar 2000 mask is remarkable -- http://www.ProEar2000.com -- I literally could not dive without it. Does it look "odd" -- you bet! But it works.

So here is what I do ... put in the ear plugs (I've found my correct size -- the sample pack comes with instructions, and it will take some trying out before you decide which one actually fits), put on the ProEar 2000 mask, and put a Henderson hyperstretch hood over the whole apparatus. When I'm out of the water, I still do the alcohol suction maneuver just in case any water has gotten through. Because of the design of the ear plugs, you will not rupture your ear drums, equalizing is easy, the water stays out of me and I stay in the water. I suppose it all looks a little peculiar, but I haven't had any complaints yet from the fish! And it's either this or not dive. Or dive and suffer ear problems. It works for me.

There also is an apparatus that I've only heard of, but never tried, called Scuba Queen, which has ear protectors inside the hood and the whole thing is hooked up to your reg. I'd be interested in knowing how that works if anyone uses that.