Barotrauma... Or what?

[Dan]

Equalization for the 1st 10m (as the water pressure doubles at that depth) is vey important in keeping your ear drum relax. I usually equalize at least once for every a meter of descent. So, by 4m, you should have equalized at least 4 times.

By not equalizing often, you may be prone to get fluid getting into the inner ear as a way for the body to counter the differential pressure on the ear drums. I went through this episode in my first few dives until my more experienced dive buddy told me about equalizing as often as you need to. If you feel pressure in your ear drum, most likely it’ll be too late.

After equalizing as often as I could ingrained in my diving habit for the 1st 10m of descent, I have no longer having inner ear fluid problem. I was able to rack up 40 dives in 10 days of liveaboard trip without missing a dive.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

Like I said, no other sensations... not like being drunk... Well, like being drunk but without the fuzziness... Just pure imbalance.
/QUOTE]

That's exactly how I'd describe what I felt after long swims. Clear-thinking, but unable to walk a line or stand on one foot.

I also suspect it has to do with the semicircular canals, which are part of the labyrinth.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi mihari,

There is a phenomenon known as alternobaric vertigo. It's unusual but it can happen if one ear equalizes but the other does not, typically on ascent. You end up with a higher pressure in one middle ear space, which causes unequal pressures inside the vestibular apparatus in the ears. It can throw off your equilibrium and give you vertigo. Once the ears clear, the vertigo goes away. From your description, it sounds like this is what happened. It's benign by itself, but it is a sign that you may need to increase your proficiency in equalizing your ears.

Also, as other posters have stated, if you have to exhale to zip your wetsuit up, it's way too tight. Again from your description, I don't think this had anything to do with the vertigo, but it's worth repeating.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Rred]

Last time I heard, DDM was not a SAG member, so he's not encouraged to play a doctor on stage or screen. And since I'm not an AMA member, I'm not even allowed to give medical guesses, even when that's not across state lines.

I do know that I can get vertigo for a moment if I sit up too quickly after waking, or if I roll on my back when I'm working on the floor, things can keep rolling for a minute or two. And yet in theory, there's nothing "wrong" in my ears but obviously, something isn't quite right.

You'd really need to find a competent doctor to do a workup and see if there's anything wrong in your ears, and try diving again (with a proper fitting suit) to see if perhaps it was just a passing thing.

This is when diving with a buddy can be quite useful: If you're dizzy, the buddy can take care of minor things like keeping you upright on the surface, and you can concentrate on just relaxing to let the moment pass.

Some divers routinely use decongestants to help clear the eustacheon tubes (nasal sprays don't get back there) but that's a whole other long argument, not to be taken without some knowledge of the larger issues.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Last time I heard, DDM was not a SAG member, so he's not encouraged to play a doctor on stage or screen.

Did I miss something?

 

[Rred]

I don't think you missed anything. But you could always start a second career on stage and screen, if you joined the Screen Actors Guild or Actors' Equity. Makes a good fallback in guess that medical stuff gets replaced by AI bots. Even a doctor can't play a doctor on TV without a union card, you know.(G)

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Ha, I've done my TV time, nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there, so to speak. For the record, I (the guy who writes the DDM posts) am not a physician, I'm a critical care and hyperbaric nurse.