Deaf by diving

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40Fathoms

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I'm a Fish!
Well... maybe not quite deaf, but I do have an issue that I'd like to get some opinions on.

Often, when I go diving, my left ear blocks up afterwards. It sounds like there's some kind of fluid in there, and it stays for a few days before starting to ease off. It's in no way painful or anything, just a little annoying.

Does anyone know what this is? Water driven into my ear by the pressure?
 
this video will tell you a lot. Thanks go to DandyDon since I copied it from his sig.
 
I think you might want to get it checked by a doctor. It could be otitis externa, or inflammation or fluid in the external ear. The treatment might be a drop. Prevention is to keep the external ear dry with a drying agent. I personally use a thin wisp of tissue paper to dry out my ears after swimming. You never want to put a q tip in the ear. Some folks uses a solution of half rubbing alcohol, and half vinegar. Some recommends third water, third alcohol, and third vinegar. I just use a very thin twisted piece of kleenex, and thread it into my ear canal - since it can't hurt the ear drum. Commercialy made ear drops are over the counter, I have not looked at them personally.

It could also be otitis media, or fluid in the middle ear. While it used to be, that some people might call this an infection, it might not be one until a couple of days after the fluid build up, and there is redness. Some doctors might treat it with antibiotic, and some with decongestant/antihistamines. And some will treat with both.

It could be a previously damaged ear drum, with a persisting hole, that allows water in. Your doctor can look at the ear and tell you if it has a hole in it.

It could be blood in your ear, from a ruptured ear drum.... It can be fluid from your inner ear - the worse case scenario, which can result in deafness.

So, we will wait for our ENT doc, hopefully he will browse through later and gives his expert opinion. I think I'll need to take more Haldol.
 
ehh? wha? did you say something? speak up sonny!

Okay, enough bad jokes. Again I'm no doctor either, but could it be possible that you've got some wax build up trapping water in there? Also, have you ever tried using "Swimmer's Ear" solutions to help clear your ears after diving? That's worked for me in the past and is a cheap and easy thing to try.
 
Wow, tons of good input! Thanks, guys. I've given the video a try (In10se) and it really had a lot of good info. My theory is that it's a fluid build up caused by not adjusting to the pressure enough. When I ascend slowly and have time to do a thorough pressurization I haven't any problems. So my approach is first to try that. Then, if that doesn't work, I'll see my doctor and see if I need to use something like "Swimmer's Ear" or similar product.

Thanks!
 
this video will tell you a lot. Thanks go to DandyDon since I copied it from his sig.

I checked out this video but found that there is no closed captioning. So, since I am a deaf diver I really need to understand the problems and solutions behind the The Diver's Ear - Under Pressure, as I, like many others, have similar ear problems.

Is there a link related to this topic that i can read up?

Thanks,
 
Wow, tons of good input! Thanks, guys. I've given the video a try (In10se) and it really had a lot of good info. My theory is that it's a fluid build up caused by not adjusting to the pressure enough. When I ascend slowly and have time to do a thorough pressurization I haven't any problems. So my approach is first to try that. Then, if that doesn't work, I'll see my doctor and see if I need to use something like "Swimmer's Ear" or similar product.
Thanks!


Re: Swimmer's Ear...it is meant an ear infection.

In my case, which I got last year was the result of the dirty water that I dove in. It was the worst experience I've ever had... really very painful and the redness spread over the infected ear and spread down a part of my neck like it was on fire. A prescribed antibiotic Apo Cephalex in the oral form plus Locacorten Vioform ear drops will cure this infection in a few days.

Feel like I must have large ear canals for either one or both is always fill up with water and not realizing they were there until I went to bed and it pours out of the ear. ugh

For simple ear irritation/minor pain after a dive you can use Burosol that you can get from the shelf of a drug store. You can even use it after every dive to prevent ear problems.
 
Hi there SunetDiver. Yes, there is a text version (more or less) of the video, if you go to the page with the video and scoll down, you'll find a collection of articles written by Dr. Kay.

The one that contains the same info as the video is this one: Prevention of Middle Ear Barotrauma

Enjoy! I'll be trying out some of the different techniques in the article, so if you want, I'll share my experiences of the techniques with you.
 
Thank you so much for the link. Please do share your experiences on this. Thanks a bunch! :D
 

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