Ear Drum Rupture and Flying

[Jasmine Corbett]

I'm not a doctor but my husband ruptured an ear drum years ago while diving on Bonaire, and he had to stop diving of course, but flying home was not an issue. After it healed he was able to dive again without problems. He can't even remember which ear it was any more.

And we've both had middle ear infections while on dive trips in the past and sought medical advice - for awhile we took turns getting sick on vacation. I now know how to ask for directions to the pharmacy in several languages.

The doctors usually prescribed antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and decongestants. They said "no more diving until it clears" but they didn't have any concerns that we would be flying home soon - I specifically asked about it, too. The change in pressure during flying was sometimes uncomfortable, but not terrible.

We both got ear infections on the same trip when diving the Red Sea, we went to the hospital and they poured mercurochrome (that nasty red stuff!) into our ears, packed them with cotton, a lot of good that did! I asked about flying and was told it was fine. The long flight home was quite interesting because we were sitting next to each other on the plane and we had to turn our bodies sideways in the plane seats just to be heard by the other person. We didn't talk much during that trip home.

Once my husband had a middle ear infection that took a long time to heal and he saw the ENT several times after we got back from a dive trip. The doctor put tubes in his ear to let them drain. My husband was a skydiver back then and I was certain (to tell the truth I was hoping!) that he would have stop jumping out of planes during the recovery so I asked the doctor about it. He said "no, skydiving is fine, but just don't get it wet."

Again, I'm not a doctor but I think you will be fine flying home. Make sure you see a specialist and follow his advice. If you don't like the doctor, see another one, your hearing is important, good luck!

Hey Kathy, I had a couple of questions about your husbands rupture if thats ok?

How long after the actual rupture did he fly?
With the rupture, did he have discharge also coming out of his ear, and if so how long did it take for this to clear?

Thanks

 

[MargaritaMike]

Tomorrow (11/16/2017) he is correcting a deviated septum, roto-rootering on of my cheek sinuses, and expanding the hole in my Eustachian tubes with balloons. He is making an incision in my ear drums. When asked he said the ear drums should heal in about 3 days. He doesn't want me to fly for 10 days (I think because of the septoplasty and nose bleeds when clearing my ears) and I could go diving in 2 weeks after surgery (assuming no infections or other contraindications).

Surgery was successful - at least that is what the Doctor is saying -- I didn't die and I still have my hearing. I won't know until after a couple of weeks if "I" think it's successful, although I am hopeful.

Cheers - M²

 

[KathyV]

Hey Kathy, I had a couple of questions about your husbands rupture if thats ok?

How long after the actual rupture did he fly?
With the rupture, did he have discharge also coming out of his ear, and if so how long did it take for this to clear? Thanks

We were only on Bonaire for a week, so we flew home just a few days after the incident.

I remember seeing him standing in the surf with blood running down his face from his ear but I don't remember about discharge, I will ask him.

He had a reverse block at the end of the house pier on a shore dive. He wasn't able to clear it and eventually had to come up and it ruptured.

 

[Kalpna4152]

There are numerous things that may happen in life that influence the appearance and usefulness of the ears. Due to the conspicuousness and projection of the ears, they are more probable than different bits of the body to endure harm either through improvement or mischance. The fundamental idea of the ears in connection to the stylish appearance of the head and face additionally makes it of incomparable significance to be worried about their appearance. For these and different reasons it is essential to consider the potential outcomes of treatment from a restorative ear specialist.

Thanks& regards,

Kalpna singh

Ear Surgeon Lucknow| ENT surgeon lucknow| ENT Lucknow

 

[KathyV]

Hi guys - looking for some honest advice on ear drum ruptures.

Have been trawling forums for days, but getting a lot of varied answers, so wanted to check on here if anyone has had a similar experience.

Recently I had a persistent cold, which was then accompanied by middle ear infection. Build up from behind the ear drum caused it to rupture (was not diving but on land).

This happened on 10/11. Since then I have been taking antibiotics, drops, decongestants etc. There is still a lot of stuff coming out of the ear drum but I think the cold has definitely cleared now.

I live in Philippines and the ENT specialist is 7 hours away, so I plan to go back to the UK for a while where I can get free healthcare and ENT specialist that lives in the same town.

I asked the ENT specialist here, and also the local doctor if I can fly, to which they both said yes of course.
Is this true - you can fly with the rupture when there is still discharge behind it?
I plan to fly on either 26/30 of Nov so hopefully the discharge will be cleared by then.

Just wanted to see if anyone has experience with this...how soon did you fly after rupture etc?

Also very open question - but how long should you realistically wait before diving again?
Diving is my life, so I'm happy to wait longer if it means I can dive again without trouble.

Ah and one more thing - I've heard steroid drops help to heal the rupture better - anyone used these before?

Any advice would be HUGELY appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, just wondering how you managed, and did you get back home okay and receive the medical care you needed?

 

[Rogerthedodger]

There are numerous things that may happen in life that influence the appearance and usefulness of the ears. Due to the conspicuousness and projection of the ears, they are more probable than different bits of the body to endure harm either through improvement or mischance. The fundamental idea of the ears in connection to the stylish appearance of the head and face additionally makes it of incomparable significance to be worried about their appearance. For these and different reasons it is essential to consider the potential outcomes of treatment from a restorative ear specialist.

Thanks& regards,

Kalpna singh

Ear Surgeon Lucknow| ENT surgeon lucknow| ENT Lucknow

Is this a commercial for restorative ear surgery? I'm confused...(like most others I'm sure).

 

[Jasmine Corbett]

Hi, just wondering how you managed, and did you get back home okay and receive the medical care you needed?

Hi Kathy

Thanks a lot for your message...luckily I go home OK, no problems on the flight which was a relief.
Sadly I have lost my job, but I guess I saw the true colours of the company I work for.
Now Im pretty confused though, because doctors in the UK have not been much help and the waiting list to see an ENT doctor is 6 months long. I went for a hearing test and the assistant said he could see no sign of a rupture in my right ear.
So now Im really in the dark about what has happened!
Hopefully I can see a doctor soon that will be able to give me a better idea...

 

[doctormike]

I went for a hearing test and the assistant said he could see no sign of a rupture in my right ear.
So now Im really in the dark about what has happened!

Traumatic perforations of the eardrum very commonly heal on their own in a few days. Assuming that the hearing test was otherwise normal, and that the tympanogram ("pressure test") showed no perforation or fluid, you may have gotten lucky. Probably a good idea to have the doctor check your ears before diving again, though...

 

[Jasmine Corbett]

Traumatic perforations of the eardrum very commonly heal on their own in a few days. Assuming that the hearing test was otherwise normal, and that the tympanogram ("pressure test") showed no perforation or fluid, you may have gotten lucky. Probably a good idea to have the doctor check your ears before diving again, though...

Hello Mike
Thanks for your message
I finally got to see an ENT doctor this week
He said that any rupture if I had one had healed as the drum is looking healthy now. He said perhaps if there was no rupture I may have had an abscess of the outer ear which burst, which could explain the continuous pain and bloody discharge
However in the tympanogram, the line on the graph was close to that of the line of a perforation
But overall the outlook is good so hopefully after a couple of months more time out of the water I should be healthy to dive again
Thanks again for all of your advice everybody

 

[doctormike]

However in the tympanogram, the line on the graph was close to that of the line of a perforation

Good news!

A point of clarification. The tympanogram essentially has three possible results, A, B and C. A a C are peaked curves, and they mean that the eardrum is intact with air in the middle ear (A with normal pressure, C with relatively low gas pressure).

Type B is a flat curve. It is the same for a perforation or for a middle ear filled with fluid (Blood, serious fluid, pus, etc...). The only way to distinguish between a perforation and fluid is with the “canal volume”, which is large for a perforation and small for an intact eardrum with fluid...