Ear problem at 33m

[shark_tamer]

Just got back from a 1 week / 11 dives Caribbean vacation on Friday.

Last wednesday morning, I had an ear problem at 33m.

I followed this procedure:

- Came up until my ears did not hurt, at 28m , and equalized.
- Stayed for about 1 minute and proceeded back to 33m .
- Still had the ear problem.
- Went back to 28m and did not go deeper for the remainder of the dive.

Since this was a multi-level dive, and there was not much to see at 33m ,
I did not miss much !!!

Today ( Tuesday ) my ears do not hurt, but I still have an incomfort in the ears / jaw region.

:huh: Is this normal, and will it go away or should I see a doctor ?

 

[Firebrand]

I would go see a doctor. Though I am NOT a doctor, it sounds like you may have had some residual water in your ear from your Caribbean vacation, and had a minor ear infection, and when you went diving again, your eustation tubes began acting up. The doctor may give you an antibiotic and decongestant to clear up the problem. Do you have any other symptoms, such as a feeling of fullness in your ears? Is your hearing "muted"? Do you feel like your ears are stuffy? Some of these symptoms may also point to an inflamed lymph node. Either way, you need to go see a doctor.

 

[shark_tamer]

Hi Firebrand,

Thanks for your response.

I see you want to know more about my symptoms.

Like I said, this happened on the wednesday morning dive. I did not feel anything 'till friday afternoon. That day, I did not dive because I was in my 24 hour period before flying, so I was at the pool for most of the morning and a part of the afternoon.
( You know about these pools .... everybody pees in them ??? and there is not much chlorine !!! )

I also have " sensitive " ears to pool water ... I often have ear infections. But this time I do not have inflamation and it is in both ears.

Like I said before, it is mostly discomfort, and kind of muffle sound. No fever. No loss of appetite.

I hope this was not my last dive !!!!

 

[shark_tamer]

.........Oh yes I forgot something !!!!!

Might not be important but 2 days before, I was stung by a jellyfish !!!!

 

[Firebrand]

Two days is enough time to go by where the jellyfish sting shouldn't affect you. I'm assuming you didn't have a serious reaction to the sting, otherwise you could have ended up in the hospital. I'd still go to see a doctor about it. If anything, the doctor may just tell you to give it time, but let him/her be the judge of that.

 

[Tagerisatroll]

People forget that its actually the first atmospher of peasure thats hardest on you're ears when your diving, because your compressing the largest volume of gas between 0-30 feet its got the biggest squeeze even though its the shallowest part of the dive.

It would probably be a good Idea to go get checked by a doctor, like Firebrand suggested. If your still having discomfort and hearing distortion.

 

[Mel.B]

People forget that its actually the first atmospher of peasure thats hardest on you're ears when your diving, because your compressing the largest volume of gas between 0-30 feet its got the biggest squeeze even though its the shallowest part of the dive.

Yes, this is true, but I have found that I always have to equalise throughout a dive, no matter what the depth...maybe I just have sensitive ears I did have a dive earlier in the year where I could not go below 10m. 10m = ears fine, 11= unable to equalise, back up to 10m - ears clear again, start to decend, 11m unable to clear. It was quite bizzare and more than a little frustrating to be stuck at 10m for the entire dive.

mel.b

 

[shark_tamer]

**** Update ****** Update *******​

Hi everybody,

Did go see a physician on Tuesday nite. I was diagnosed as having " Inflamation of both inner ear canals " . :huh:

Doctor cannot tell me if it was dive related or some bacteria I picked up in the Carribean.

He prescribed Sofracort ( antibiotics and cortisone ) ear drops, 4 times a day.

He told me that this should not prevent me from diving again

Thanks for your concern !!