did I hurt my ears

[tuj]

I did an 'expore diving' non-certification first dive. During the decent (about 40' total according to divemaster) I had some trouble equalizing. I would ascent and equalize again, but the trouble (read pain) kept re-occuring as we changed depths downwards during our swim over the reef. The ascent was vertical, slow, and pain-free.

When I came up, I apparently had a significant amount of blood on my face. I wiped it off and didn't have any current bleeding. My ears felt some pain but not terrible. But my hearing was definitely off, like I had water in my ears. Before the dive I took decongestants and my sinuses felt clear.

I tried equalizing, swallowing, and everything, and after a plane trip back, my hearing still feels strange. It has now been four days since my dive and I am worried that perhaps I perforated my eardrums? I am not in pain, but my hearing is that 'underwater' feeling, like water stuck in my ears (but no sloshing).

Any suggestions as to what to do, besides seeing an ENT which I plan to do ASAP? Am I at risk of damaging my hearing?

And what's worse, I loved the experience, and I want to dive again, but I'm worried that this will happen again. Is there anything I can do?

 

[Crowley]

the most likely cause is a bad squeeze - if you're unable to equalise but continue your descent then blood and spinal fluid is forced up your eustachian tube and into the middle ear. This is what causes the hard hearing, and potentially why you have a bloody nose but no apparent bleeding. If there is sufficient blood it can clot and therefore you end up with odd hearing for a few days afterwards - I've seen this happen a few times.

It's usually not serious, although can potentially become infected and require antibiotics and therefore checking in with an ENT is just good sense. In the meantime, chewing gum can help loosen the clot or any trapped fluids as it repeatedly stretches the Eustachian tube through the movement of the jaw.

Everybody's different, and the various tubes in the ears and sinuses are subject to all sorts of blockages, growths and deformities, so if you really struggle to equalise when you learn to dive, you can get your skull x-rayed and an potential problems can be identified.

Hope that helps,

C.

 

[boulderjohn]

Crowley is very much right, and he clearly describes a problem I had several times in my earliest days of diving.

On the other hand, on some other such occasions, I found out that the feeling that I had that was like having water in my ear turned out to be water in my ear. In one case it just sat in there until I got a painful outer ear infection. I am now pretty careful about using ear drops (mixture of alcohol and vinegar) to clear my ears out when I have any sense of something being in there.

There was a thread a few years ago in which a diver described this problem, and after I mentioned it she used drops and had the problem go away instantly. In your case, I would say that the problem Crowley mentions is more likely the case.

 

[JohnB47]

Most likely it is not serious, but you should see an ENT unless it suddenly recovers before you can get an appointment. If you can find an ENT who knows something about diving, you should also ask if he sees anything that would prevent you from diving. My first wife was not able to equalize her ears, so she went to an ENT, who told her that she had scarring in her eustation tubes from frequent ear infections as a child, and that the only way to operate on it would be to go through the brain, which was not a real option. Hopefully, your prognosis will be better.

 

[gedmondson]

Tuj

Persistent hearing changes, especially when accompanied by pain, would most certainly warrant a visit to a physician. You most certainly have some level of barotrauma to the middle ear. While I have some issues with the above poster's description of the physiological changes induced by barotrauma which result in the middle ear fluid accumulation (spinal fluid outside the spinal space is almost always very bad news!), I think he is probably correct that you will not suffer lasting damage. There are great resources on this topic on the following page. Required reading/viewing for every diver.

Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page

 

[TSandM]

As stated, this is a very common problem for new divers. In my opinion, instructors really ought to spend more time on equalizing and have people practice before they get in the water.

The good news is that it's almost certain that what you have is just an accumulation of fluid in the middle ear from the pressure changes. This resolves with time, although the use of decongestants and antiinflammatory medications may hasten it. In the meantime, you may enjoy watching this (long) video on the diver's ear, and reading this article on equalizing techniques.

 

[tuj]

Thanks for all the great and fast responses! I definitely plan on seeing an ENT when I can get in. You guys have made me feel a lot better, and hopefully I can scuba again (and learn it properly with the real certification course).

 

[a22shady]

I had a simliar situtation when i was diving. I did my 1st OW dives and was never really equalized. The pain felt as if I was being stabbed in the ear with a Knife. very painful. Thankfully i did some research and found out that I was not blowing hard enough to equalize my ears. After I found this Out the last 2 dives only took me about 5min to get to depth compared to almost 20 the 1st 2. I did have some residual pain and water in ears feeling for about a week or so. But now I can sink like a rock with no problems. Also I did have a little bit of blood when i blew my nose after those dives which all relate back to now being equalized. Here is an awesom video it is a little long but definetly worth watching y Dr. Edmound Kay and will explain alot to you. I did visit my Doc after this Just to be n the safe side and other then a little swelling there was nothing no ear beeding or anything. But get checked just to be sure

Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page

 

[Linedog]

Ditto to all the above, my first OW dive it felt like an ice pick in my ear, came up with a bloody nose. I heard water in my ears for days untill I went to the Doc. Now all is fine, I decend a bit slower and enjoy the view.

 

[Water Monkey]

I am not a DR and I am not giving medical advice but I have had this problem numerous times myself without the pain. I’m not entirely sure of the mechanics and no DR that I have been to can tell me what is going on. But for me it takes as long as a week for it to go away. It’s like a pressure build up in my inner ear, but it feels like there is water in there. I have found that if it happens and I make another dive and I use an assent line and ascend very very slowly it will relieve the problem. It happens to me just by moving my head in the wrong direction while diving but there is never any pain. Any more I can feel it coming and I can stop it by moving my head. But in general you want to avoid dive profiles that involve a lot of up and down and don’t do goofy things like somersaults.