Ear Infection FROM Diving?

[It's_The_Water]

I did my Open Water certification dives (5 dives over 2 days) last weekend. On the 2nd or 3rd dive I had a little trouble equalizing, but going up a few feet and working it out solved the problem. 5 days later, on Friday, I started developing what I suspect is a minor ear infection. It's not really painful, just annoying. I plan to just get plenty of sleep and liquids. If it hasn't gone away by Monday, I'll stop in and see my doctor. (I'm not planning to dive again for another month, so at least I don't need to reschedule anything.)

I have two questions. The first is: There's a lot of talk about not diving with an ear infection, but I'm wondering if it is possible for diving to CAUSE an ear infection? The second, follow-up, question is what I can I do to limit the risks of this on the future dives? (Other than get more sleep than I was able to manage this past week.)

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Water in the ears can cause them, I think. Alot of people get them from diving.

Use "ear soup," something like 50% vinegar and 50% rubbing alcohol, a few drops in each ear sometime soon after the dive (like, when you've got the van loaded up.) That'll help kill bacteria and evaporate water.

You might need some antibiotics to clear up the infection. You might should go ahead and call the doctors office and let them know you think you have an ear infection and can yous top by on Monday?


Oh, and welcome to both the world Underwater and Scubaboard!

 

[spectrum]

There's a lot of talk about not diving with an ear infection, but I'm wondering if it is possible for diving to CAUSE an ear infection? The second, follow-up, question is what I can I do to limit the risks of this on the future dives? (Other than get more sleep than I was able to manage this past week.)

Diving certainly can set you up for an ear infection, usually swimmers ear. If you have that persistent soreness around your ears(s) get to the doc. It's easily treated in most cases. Check this out.

Pete

 

[pickens_46929]

Yep... lots has to do with the water in the ears but also I find that fresh water causes more ear infections for me than the ocean...

Use Ear Beer... Here are some recipes:

A common mixture is 50/50 of alcohol and white vinegar (5% acetic acid). The alcohol cleans and kills, and the vinegar is used as a drying agent to treat the inner ear.

An other home-brew of 1/3 distilled water, 1/3 distilled white vinegar and 1/3 isopropyl alcohol should provide just as much protection, be less likely to over dry and cost less. A new batch should be made about every 30 days.

I throw in some hydrogen peroxide (diluted). It seems to work better for me. Approximately 50% rubbing alcohol, 25% vinegar and 25% hydrogen peroxide.

That said you need a couple drops in the ear and keep your head tilted for a while to let it take effect. Note that the rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide will remove the ear wax and can dry out your ear as well. Too dry is as bad as too wet.

When in doubt use an over the counter swimmer's ear drops. Same stuff pretty much as above.

Other people use different things like mineral oil, which I've never used.

 

[erparamedic]

I have gotten a couple ear infections from diving. Ironically, both times I was infected, I had dove the same place. I know the water is tested on a monthly basis, so it is safe. The doctor (ENT, also a diver) thinks that it's tiny pieces of sediment in the water that gets caught in my ears and causes the infections. Now, I use antibiotic eardrops each time I dive.

 

[Thalassamania]

Good discussion of the issue: Effect of Diving and Diving Hoods on the Bacterial Flora of
the External Ear Canal and Skin

Vinegar/alcohol is good. What we used for earwash on the Tektite Project back in 1969 was equal parts of 15% Tannic Acid (15 gm. diluted to 100 ml), 15% Acetic Acid (15 ml diluted to 100 ml) and 50% isopropol or ethanol (50 ml diluted to 100 ml) in a wash bottle. Mineral oil in the ears before the dive and Tektite solution after. I've done this since '69 and never had any problems with my external auditory meatus.

 

[spectrum]

I throw in some hydrogen peroxide (diluted).

Be sure this is all fresh material. In the presence of light Hydrogen Peroxide will quickly disassociate leaving only water.

 

[John_B]

Other people use different things like mineral oil, which I've never used.

I try to swim if I can't dive, and all local diving is freshwater. I've been fighting these same types of ear infections for years, since before I took up diving. My ENT doc is a diver himself (and sympathetic to my plight). He has me doing a custom ear-beer mix five days on and then two days with straight mineral oil to counteract over drying. We've been working on this a long time to find the best solution, so anyone else's ideal regimen is probably going to be different from mine but mineral oil (or something like it, baby oil is an option) does help in my case by keeping the outer part of my ear drums from getting too dry.

IANAD. YMMV.

John

 

[TSandM]

Well, the first question is, what kind of symptoms are you having that make you think you have an ear infection?

There are two types of infections that divers run into. The first is "swimmer's ear", which is an infection of the external canal running from the visible external ear inward to the eardrum. When this canal is persistently wet, the skin can be compromised and permit bacteria to take hold. An infection here is very painful, particularly when the external ear is grasped and moved. The lining of the canal can swell enough so that it's visible to someone without any special equipment. There is rarely if ever any drainage. This kind of infection is treated with eardrops, and can be prevented by careful drying of the ear canal, or by disinfecting solutions such as the ones recommended above.

The second, and less common kind of ear infection is an infection of the middle ear. When you dive, you have to equalize the pressure in the middle ear airspaces. If you are tardy or less than efficient about doing this, there will be a relative vacuum in the middle ear, and this causes fluid to transudate out of the blood vessels (and can even cause the small blood vessels to rupture). This fluid is initially sterile, but can be seeded with bacteria. The symptoms of this kind of infection are a dull, persistent earache which usually DOESN'T change with manipulation of the external ear. This kind of infection is treated with oral antibiotics. Drainage from the ear can occur if the infection is untreated and results in rupture of the eardrum.

The problem is that the barotrauma that caused the fluid to accumulate in the middle ear can itself cause some mild ear pain for a day or two, and the appearance of the eardrum after barotrauma is actually quite similar to the appearance with an middle ear infection. So, if you go to a family practitioner who is not familiar with diving, you may be diagnosed with an infection when none exists.

My suspicion, given the original post, is that what the poster is suffering from is barotrauma and some accumulate of fluid in the middle ear. Of course, I can't diagnose over the internet (nobody can), so if the symptoms are severe or persistent, they certainly deserve evaluation by a physician.

OP, you might benefit from watching THIS video. (Warning -- it's about 45 minutes long.) It's very educational about ears and what happens during diving.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi It's_The_Water,

Interesting how responders are offering preventions and treatments when in fact we don't even have a diagnosis yet. This is the opposite of how actual medicine operates.

As TSandM has indicated, if you do have an infection, which is not certain at the moment, the preventions and treatments depend upon whether it is otitis media (middle ear infection) or otitis externa (infection of the external auditory canal). If it is a middle ear infection, drying and acidifying drops placed in the outer ear will do absolutely nothing.

The following article from a recent issue of DAN's Alert Diver magazine can help you make the distinction and provides preventative steps if it is an external ear problem:

Preventing Swimmer's Ear
http://www.awoosh.com/DocVikingo/Preventing_Swimmers_Ear.htm

Regards,

DocVikingo