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Hi, my name is Adam and I recently started to dive on a trip to Cairns Australia. I received my certification while doing a nine dive live-aboard course. This was late december, over Christmas. During the 4th dive I couldn't equalize my ears easy and I believe what I did wrong was pinch my nose and push my ears too hard. After that dive I felt like I had water my ears that I could not get out and a little pain. I sat out the next dive (which was unfortunatley the night dive with sharks that I was really looking forward to) and felt a little better the next day. They didn't get any better tho, so I went to see a doctor. He told me I had swimmers ear and prescribed 3 day antibiotics an ear drops for 5 days. Nothing happened. On the 5th day my vacation in OZ was over and I continued on to Bali for a final month, which is where I am now. The problem didn't go away, and a few days ago I went to see a doctor here. He told me I have a middle ear barotrauma and prescribed antibiotics, decongestant, and anti inflammatory. I just finish these medications and have no results. I'll be flying home to Florida the end of this month. I still feel liquid in my ears, have muffled hearing, and random pressure like pain. PLEASE offer me some advice or insight into what my problem may be.
Adam, this is unfortunately a common problem in new divers. As you descend and are unable to equalize, a relative vacuum occurs in your middle ear. This pressure differential draws fluid out of the capillaries (or even ruptures them) and the result is a fluid-filled middle ear. This dampens sound transduction and results in muffled hearing, and often in crackling or bubbling sounds. It can take a couple of weeks for this to resolve, depending on your anatomy and whether there is actually blood in the middle ear.
But the more worrisome thing is that it is also possible to damage the delicate structures of the inner ear with barotrauma, and when muffled hearing persists for more than a week or so, this is more concerning. I would strongly second the recommendation to see a diving-savvy ENT doc when you get home, and if you don't know where to find one, Divers Alert Network (DAN) can help (even if you aren't a member).
In the meantime, you might enjoy watching Dr. Kay's VIDEO on the diver's ear (warning, it is long) and reading a small ESSAY on this subject that I wrote a while back.
Thank you, for saying this. It's maddening not knowing. My main concern is wondering if I am making it worse by not being able to see an ENT, until I get home early Feb.
Can you suggest ways about going to get the right doctor, as I have seen 3 that all seem uncertain of themselves. Or will any ENT in South Florida be O.K.???
Unfortunately, DAN isn't always helpful with recommendations. (They recommended the chamber in town to me who recommended an ENT who knew zero about diving.) If DAN isn't able to provide a solid recommendation, maybe try calling a few dive shops nearby in hopes of connecting with someone who has had 1st-hand experience with an ENT in the area.
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