Diving and hearing loss - any connection?

[PrairieChicken]

I've never had a perforated ear drum. at times i've had trouble equalizing, but never continued to descend until okay. when i was first learning to dive i did have a few times that i didn't dump enough air from my BCD and rocketed up, but otherwise have always done slow ascents and safety stops. i've noticed some hearing loss in certain situations, for example, with background noise i sometimes find it hard to follow conversations. one of my coworkers is in his mid 50's and has logged about 1500 more dives than me and is deaf as a post.

now, i freely admit that i've gone to some loud concerts and listened to headphones too loudly in my younger days. i suspect my coworker has too. so i agree, it's impossible to point to diving and say it's the culprit, but has anyone noticed a disproportionate number of divers with hearing loss?

 

[tracydr]

Hearing loss is so common I don't think that there is anyway it could be connected to your diving, although it may have been a factor. Exposure to loud noise would be a more common reason.
I have seen some studies that show commercial divers are more likely to have hearing loss.
i have some hearing loss, too, but I was in orchestra from 3rd grade all the way through college, plus played in many extra bands/pit orchestras for the community play group. I also was in the Longmont Orchestra and Boulder symphony for a few years. I was also in the military and spent a lot of time around the artillery. ( we called hearing loss "Artillery ears").
i think the two most common causes of hearing loss as you get older are exposure to loud noise and hereditary. My mother and husband have some hearing loss. My mother wasn't exposed to loud noises but my husband was a mechanic and also was in the Infantry for a few years.
there is a medicine that my husband is taking for an unrelated problem but he's noticed his hearing improved. It's not commonly used for hearing loss but there are some good studies on it. The medicine is pentoxyfilline, or Pentax. You might ask about if and when you go to an ENT or hearing specialist.

---------- Post added June 2nd, 2013 at 10:17 AM ----------

Hearing loss is so common I don't think that there is anyway it could be connected to your diving, although it may have been a factor. Exposure to loud noise would be a more common reason.
I have seen some studies that show commercial divers are more likely to have hearing loss.
i have some hearing loss, too, but I was in orchestra from 3rd grade all the way through college, plus played in many extra bands/pit orchestras for the community play group. I also was in the Longmont Orchestra and Boulder symphony for a few years. I was also in the military and spent a lot of time around the artillery. ( we called hearing loss "Artillery ears").
i think the two most common causes of hearing loss as you get older are exposure to loud noise and hereditary. My mother and husband have some hearing loss. My mother wasn't exposed to loud noises but my husband was a mechanic and also was in the Infantry for a few years.
there is a medicine that my husband is taking for an unrelated problem but he's noticed his hearing improved. It's not commonly used for hearing loss but there are some good studies on it. The medicine is pentoxyfilline, or Pentax. You might ask about if and when you go to an ENT or hearing specialist.

You can also check the Rubicon Foundation for studies on "diving and hearing loss".

 

[PsyWulf]

ENT Would be able to check whether you have fluid in your ear canals

Are you having any issues with specific frequencies or a hear slight whistling noise? I know any kind of "forced" equalization,even slight may rupture a few vessels in the ear and cause fluid buildup which would produce problems with hearing - i've been there

 

[PrairieChicken]

no whistling noise. it does seem to be specific frequencies - mainly those in the range of female voices. again, though, it is only an issue when there is background noise. otherwise, it really doesn't affect my day to day life. certainly doesn't bother me enough to see an ENT. i first started noticing it shortly after i started diving more frequently...but i'm also getting older. the body does not always forgive so readily.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi PrairieChicken,

Our board archives are often a good place to start, e.g.,:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/409772-long-term-effects-diving-hearing.html

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[Rhone Man]

Not a doctor, but I have perforated the same ear drum several times (recently a doctor examining it said: "Damn, that is a scarred up eardrum!") with no appreciable hearing loss yet (I am 41). I have never damaged the one on the other side. Maybe I am just lucky.

 

[agilis]

Exposure to loud noises, age, and heredity are, I'm told, the three most common causes of partial progressive hearing loss, generally starting in the upper Hertz range. Some people maintain their full hearing ability (acuity, directionality, range) for their entire life, but almost invariable these are people who die when they are in their late teens and early 20s. I knew a few. It's 45 years next month that he was killed in a rocket barrage, but I still remember how L/Cpl Michael Majeski could hear a leaf fall at 50 meters. At 18 we can do amazing things. Actually, Michael was a Private, but they always promoted these kids when they were KIA. I'm sure, were he still around, his hearing would probably be as mildly defective as mine. Keep it real, Stretch.

Age will almost certainly cause a partial diminishment in hearing in eveyone that makes it past their 50s. We quite understandably would prefer not to attribute these kind of things to age, but the reality is that the gradual fading of most senses is just part of a universal natural process that ends in death. No big deal. You were not unhappy before you were born, and you will be in the equivalent state of mind after life ends.

Sorry to be such a morbid downer, but a bunch of anniversaries are about to happen to me, and every year, contrary to conventional wisdom and what one might expect, it gets worse.

I know a bunch of ENTs and Neurologists (tinnitus) and all that I've asked agree that, excepting for certain catastrophic accidents or uncommon stupidity, sport scuba diving probably has little or no effect on hearing. Just about everything else does, though, especially remaining alive after you no longer serve any positive biological function according to standards that were established during our evolutionary development. That means up to about 35 or 40 years old. After that, if you fail to hear that lion in the high grass, that's one less marginally productive or non-productive person for the tribe to feed.

NEVER NEVER force clearing. Any pain means you come up a foot or two, try again gently. Still no go? Get back in the boat. Always rinse your ears with some vinegar or vinegar/rubbing alcohol. Run to the nearest ENT if you experience ear problems after diving. Call DAN. Don't wait for things to clear up "in a few days".