Barotrauma and Tinnitus- Should I stop diving?

[dmaziuk]

(PS, the ONE GUY that runs the MRI machine at the hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica is apparently the kwisatz haderach of magnetic resonance. The US doc said most of their MRI's don't come out nearly as good from their techs)

... and that's just just low-intensity human-safe stuff. We have a guy here that, according to the director of the NMR facility "when Marco does the shimming I've no idea what these resulting spectra are even of: they have all those peaks and details no-one's ever seen before, it's crazy".

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Yes you are correct. After the dive all I noticed was the feeling of fullness in the left ear and of course the pops and clicks in both. My hearing seemed fine; I don't recall having any difficulty hearing at all. I went to a loud restaurant followed my a party exactly one week after the dive, and after experienced no noticeable problems. The particular party I referenced was 2 weeks after the dive. After the party my left ear felt full again and I felt as though I couldn't hear my friend properly. I honestly only noticed the ringing after I put my fingers in my ears to see if it was indeed a symptom I was experiencing and then in morning when my head was against the pillow I could hear it.

I'd have a hard time tying the tinnitus to the diving in your case. It seems more likely to be from noise exposure. That said, if you do plan to proceed with diving, be careful - "preload" your ears before you go under water, stay ahead of the descent (i.e. equalize on the way down even though it doesn't feel like you have to), equalize frequently, and don't dive while congested.

I have tinnitus myself that I've been dealing with for some years. It put me out of diving because unlike some others who posed mine gets acutely worse with pressure changes - I can't even go under water with my kids at the pool any more. Take careful notice if it gets worse with diving.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Jack Hammer]

I have pretty bad tinnitus from too much time in loud environments when I was younger and more invincible. I "preload" and stay ahead of the curve, as @Duke Dive Medicine mentions. The only depth that occassionally gives me difficulty to equalize is between 10'-20' (3m-6m). That pre loading works well for me for tech and cave dives in water temps near freezing and for multi-hour dives. Just dont ever force it.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I've had tinnitus for years both ears, left ear worse. It was very disturbing initially but now just part of me. It doesn't affect my diving at all. I've not been particularly exposed to loud noises over my lifetime, a few evenings out and parties, like yourself. Mine may or may not be related to diving.
I hear the clicking every time I equalize or yawn, etc. I'm also comforted by this because it means that I can equalize.
As others have said "equalize early and equalize often".
I start equalizing throughout the day for days before going diving. I equalize at breakfast, on the way up the dock and in the boat and again before descending. It's just like exercise and gets your eustachian tubes ready for your descent. Upon descending, as others have also said stay ahead of it by equalizing well before any pressure is felt. I'll often exhale in shorter puffs to equalize more quickly during descent but more often than not, I can descend head first after a duck dive, equalizing all the way. I attribute this ability to all the "exercise" my eustachian tubes have had. Obviously, you'll not want to start out with head first descents.
Get the second opinion and don't give up yet.

 

[Searcaigh]

I had tinnitus prior to diving which I'm pretty sure is related to noise exposure when I was younger at music concerts plus riding motorcycles without adequate ear protection against wind noise.

During my diving career I've perforated both ears on several occasions but I'm too obsessed with scuba diving to hang my fins up for something like that.

I can click my ears at will on the surface, I'm not really sure how to explain how I do it, but I do use the Valsevars movement to equalise when descending which also includes inhaling deeply for a positive pressure descending slightly and repeating the Valsevars in one breath along with stretching my neck out too which appears to help.

When I do have issues, like Jack Hammer it's at the beginning of a dive. Living in relatively high humid environment here in UAE may be one of the reasons, as I often have some level of congestion overnight, which is usually cleared by having a hot shower in the morning before going diving.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Ah yes, seeing Searcraigh mention this, I am reminded that I too will stretch out my neck and turn an ear towards the surface, if it's hesitant to equalize.

 

[Searcaigh]

Ah yes, seeing Searcraigh mention this, I am reminded that I too will stretch out my neck and turn an ear towards the surface, if its hesitant to equalize.

Funny how these movements develop and tend to work from trial and error

 

[chillyinCanada]

Funny how these movements develop and tend to work from trial and error

And reading Scubaboard for helpful hints and tips