Recently I went to Cozumel for two weeks of diving. On the third day I woke feeling a "little off". Thought I might be getting a cold but had no congestion other than a slight post-nasal drip, which is not uncommon for me in the morning. Went diving at 11AM. Still not feeling 100%, but no congestion. No runny nose. Nothing. Dropped down to 60' or so with no problems equalizing. About 15 minutes into the dive I experienced excruciating piercing pain in my left ear. Went up slowly about 8' or so trying to equalize. Stopped trying to equalize and leveled off...just hanging out in pain. After about 20 seconds POW my eardrum burst. Pain gone...ear drum has a hole in it... Doc says 8 to 10 weeks no diving. So my question is, could I should I have done anything different? What do I do next time I "may" have a cold or am getting over a cold.
Ear Drum Issues
- Thread starter mridude
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krawlings
Contributor
Sound like you may have had a revers block. Air in the ear was not able to equalize do to air expanding and is blocked . this could be due to you having some nasal drip . Was you coming up or rising at the time you noticed the pain starting? In this situation dropping down a little and slowly rise after waiting for the ear to equalize
It is possible I was ascending slightly at the time, but I really don't remember as we were drift diving in fairly strong current. I do know that after the pain started I ascended 6 to 8' and that is when the drum burst. So, probably should have stayed at the level I was at and try to equalize? The pain was terrible! Never experienced anything like that before. And yes, both the doctor and our divemaster said it was probably a reverse block.
Michael Guerrero
Contributor
That's sort of the problem. Your ears can block on both ascent and descent. Either way, the basic rule is undo what you just did. So if you're going down, your ears hurt, and they're not clearing, go back up some and try again. if you're ascending, your ears hurt, and they're not clearing, go back down.
Most people recommend not taking medication as some have interactions with higher levels of O2, some can make you drowsy/impair your ability to respond in an emergency, and we don't have good data on others that might or might not cause complications.
here's an article:
Mind Your Meds | Scuba Diving
Most people recommend not taking medication as some have interactions with higher levels of O2, some can make you drowsy/impair your ability to respond in an emergency, and we don't have good data on others that might or might not cause complications.
here's an article:
Mind Your Meds | Scuba Diving
claymore
Contributor
I blew out an eardrum this summer with a fast descent and slow to equalize. I felt the pressure and the eardrum go. Never really had time for much pain. Then the vertigo hit at about 60 ft. I could look up and know it was up and look down and know it was down but the brain could not deal with what my ears were saying. My head just kept rolling around and my brain said just hang on this will pass, don't panic it will pass just hang on. I don't remember surfacing but my buddy must have helped me up. Once on the surface I was fine and we did a shallow dive back to the entry point.
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| Created : Feb 17, 2012, 9:24 PM | Style : Background2, Font7, Size20 |
| Created : Feb 17, 2012, 9:20 PM | Style : Background2, Font7, Size20 |
Sent from my iPad
Thanks and excellent article!
---------- Post added November 20th, 2014 at 08:45 AM ----------
So this brings up more questions. If one experiences ear pain wen ascending, other than stop ascending or descend slightly, what should you do? How does one equalize when ascending? Since the pressure is opposite to descending the same methods will not work...will they? I have never felt the urge/need to equalize when ascending.
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