Both my husband and I have suffered with chronic inner/middle ear problems while diving, including some that have had significant ramifications and even ruined diving trips. Once he was unable to clear a reverse block on Bonaire and he ruptured an ear drum. And I am prone to allergies and sinus congestion and that can put the kibosh on diving too.
When we first started diving he never had ear problems but they developed over time and he gets congestion and middle ear infections.
Over the years we have come up with some solutions that have worked for us, see below. This may sound like a lot of effort but we work hard for our vacations and spend a lot of money and we want to enjoy them - and we love diving together - so it is worth it to us!
- We have consulted with a good ear, nose, and throat doctor to evaluate and treat potential ear conditions. I found out that I suffered from chronic sinus infections. I eventually had surgery and it helped a lot. I am not saying that your wife will need surgery but it is wise to seek an informed medical opinion.
- We try to get to the vacation spot a few days early and just relax and enjoy before we start diving. It seems that the stress, and sleep deprivation of rushing to get away from work and traveling takes a toll on our health. We arrive tired and may develop head colds and congestion. Breathing the recycled airplane air and living in air-conditioning can add to the problem, too. But taking a little time to relax after we get to the island/location, instead of diving immediately, helps us to get healthy, and rested, and eager to start diving. It's fun too!
- We have mutually agreed that if one of us is having a hard time clearing our ears then it's no big deal - the other will wait patiently on the bottom until the afflicted diver is okay and comfortable. Sometimes if we are trying to follow the DM, the diver with the ear problems stays shallower as we move along the reef, eventually working his/her way down and the other diver comes up a bit to stay closer to his/her buddy.
- We avoid swim-throughs with significant depth changes and dives in strong current when the DM tells you to "get down fast!" We swim over the swim throughs and sit out a dive that requires getting to depth fast.
- We put the ear infection prevention drops in our ears after every dive, but that only helps prevent outer ear infections and that is not usually our problem.
- We take 12 hour Allegra-D (you can get it from the pharmacist without a prescription) in the morning each dive day and may take a second one at night if congested. Find out how you react to an anti-histamine and decongestant before you take them pre-diving; I have no problem with them but some people get sleepy or wired.
- Finally, we use neti-pot rinses to cleanse our sinuses every night during dive vacations. My ENT doctor kept telling me to do this but I was a slow adapter (and my husband was even less willing!) but after he saw me take a couple of neti-pot trips with no congestion or ear problems; he became a believer and now has his own personal neti-pot and it has been working for him too! It's cheap, easy, non-drug, and doesn't hurt and it really does help IMO; see the link below for more information.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ne...-getting-cold-after-diving-2.html#post7312280
