Another Ear Question. Help

[DustanLtye]

First time posting on here so bear with me. I have been diving on and off for twelve years and my right ear always takes a little extra attention to equalize but no problem. Saturday a week and a half ago some friends of mine came in to my local dive shop to do discover scuba. I played around in the pool with them (12ft) never had problems with my ears. Although dove several times to the bottom from the side of the pool without equalizing. Fast forward 2 days and my right ear feels like its full of water and itches. Next day it is very tender and is sore and it sounds and feels like that ear is under water. I go see my family doctor that day and he sees alot of earwax and uses a waterpik to clean in. Says my ear canal is a little red but everything looks ok and gives me q prescription for antibiotics. Fast forward to today my hearing in that ear is still muffled, but occasionally clears until I swallow and it's back clogged. I can still valsava and clear my ears although the right one makes s squeaking sounds when I do. But it has done that in the past. Another crazy issue is that it gets better later in the day, but first thing in the morning when I get up its rough. I have stayed out of the water which is killing me. I have a ENT appointment this Monday finally. Any hints or suggestions of what is going on will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[BIGGBOSSsnake11]

I had the exact same problem, I went to the doctor and he gave me some antibiotics and it took 2 weeks till my hearing in my right ear to come back. Worst 2 weeks ever.

 

[Eptel]

@DustanLtye , I would recommend seeing ENT Dr ASAP and perhaps taking antibiotics or even hormones meds if he/she advises to do so.
I had the same issue with my right ear (harder equalization etc) and finally after one of the dives I experienced similar symptoms described by you. I thought that it would go away but it didn't and it was too late to fix after i saw ENT Dr. He said that hormone med might have helped in my case if I had stared taken them right away rather than waiting for 1-2 weeks. Now I have a muffled hearing and tinnitus in my right ear ....

 

[DustanLtye]

@DustanLtye , I would recommend seeing ENT Dr ASAP and perhaps taking antibiotics or even hormones meds if he/she advises to do so.
I had the same issue with my right ear (harder equalization etc) and finally after one of the dives I experienced similar symptoms described by you. I thought that it would go away but it didn't and it was too late to fix after i saw ENT Dr. He said that hormone med might have helped in my case if I had stared taken them right away rather than waiting for 1-2 weeks. Now I have a muffled hearing and tinnitus in my right ear ....

Did he actually give you a diagnosis? Are you still able to dive? Thanks so much for the information.

 

[Eptel]

He said that I had some sort of barotrauma which resulted in loss of hearing (almost 90%) in higher frequencies and caused tinnitus in my right ear. At this point nothing can be done in my case - i.e. surgeries / medications will not help. I just have to live with it now. Yes I still dive and i noticed that my right ear clears without any problems now which was not the case prior to my barotrauma... At least one positive thing out of it heheheh.

Hopefully your issue will be resolved. Please keep us posted. And may be your feedback will help somebody else in the future.

One take away - any issues after diving - gotta go see specialist right away. Family doctor might not be able to help which was the case with me.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

First time posting on here so bear with me. I have been diving on and off for twelve years and my right ear always takes a little extra attention to equalize but no problem. Saturday a week and a half ago some friends of mine came in to my local dive shop to do discover scuba. I played around in the pool with them (12ft) never had problems with my ears. Although dove several times to the bottom from the side of the pool without equalizing. Fast forward 2 days and my right ear feels like its full of water and itches. Next day it is very tender and is sore and it sounds and feels like that ear is under water. I go see my family doctor that day and he sees alot of earwax and uses a waterpik to clean in. Says my ear canal is a little red but everything looks ok and gives me q prescription for antibiotics. Fast forward to today my hearing in that ear is still muffled, but occasionally clears until I swallow and it's back clogged. I can still valsava and clear my ears although the right one makes s squeaking sounds when I do. But it has done that in the past. Another crazy issue is that it gets better later in the day, but first thing in the morning when I get up its rough. I have stayed out of the water which is killing me. I have a ENT appointment this Monday finally. Any hints or suggestions of what is going on will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Hi @DustanLtye ,

Ear infections and ear barotrauma are two different things, though one can sometimes lead to the other. Are the antibiotics ear drops or pills? Either way, they won't do anything to resolve barotrauma-induced inflammation.

Twelve feet is a long way to go without equalizing, so you most likely suffered some kind of barotrauma, probably of the middle ear. It's the most common injury in diving. The part about it being better during the day actually makes sense... you're upright which helps facilitate draining of fluids from the middle ear, and you're doing things to move your jaw around, which may also help open up the Eustachian tube.

It can take a while for the inflammation to go down. GENTLE Valsalva maneuvers (pinch the nose and blow) can pressurize the middle ear, which can help expel fluid through the Eustachian tube. Do not do this with any force, though, otherwise you risk the injury that @Eptel unfortunately seems to have suffered from, which is inner ear barotrauma.

I'm linking an article I wrote for Dive Assure a while back that goes into more detail.

https://www.diveassure.com/wp-conte...s-Eric-Hexdall-RN-CHRN-Duke-Dive-Medicine.pdf

Best regards,
DDM

 

[DustanLtye]

Hi @DustanLtye ,

Ear infections and ear barotrauma are two different things, though one can sometimes lead to the other. Are the antibiotics ear drops or pills? Either way, they won't do anything to resolve barotrauma-induced inflammation.

Twelve feet is a long way to go without equalizing, so you most likely suffered some kind of barotrauma, probably of the middle ear. It's the most common injury in diving. The part about it being better during the day actually makes sense... you're upright which helps facilitate draining of fluids from the middle ear, and you're doing things to move your jaw around, which may also help open up the Eustachian tube.

It can take a while for the inflammation to go down. GENTLE Valsalva maneuvers (pinch the nose and blow) can pressurize the middle ear, which can help expel fluid through the Eustachian tube. Do not do this with any force, though, otherwise you risk the injury that @Eptel unfortunately seems to have suffered from, which is inner ear barotrauma.

I'm linking an article I wrote for Dive Assure a while back that goes into more detail.

https://www.diveassure.com/wp-conte...s-Eric-Hexdall-RN-CHRN-Duke-Dive-Medicine.pdf

Best regards,
DDM

Thanks so much you guys are awesome! This has just scared the crap out of me as diving is my passion and it has killed me to think I would not be able to dive again. I see a ENT this coming monday as that is the soonest they could get me in. I have no problem even since this has started equalizing with gentle valsalva above water. The family doctor put me on a round of oral antibiotics (amoxicillin). I can't wait to get back in the water, have my AOW certification planned for the last week of September and hope this clears up by then. Will keep you all posted and once again thanks so much!