Ear Problems

[Stephanie_L]

Hi all. I'm in the middle of my Scuba class, and I'm having problems clearing my ears. I get to about 10feet and I get a stabbing, burning, pain in my ears. I've gone to every web site on the 'net to try different ways to clear them and none of them work. Tuesdays are my pool sessions and it usually takes until Saturday for them to clear. This is getting really old really fast! Our open water dive is the first weekend of February and I'm worried that I wont be able to dive if I keep having these problams. My ears will not clear underwater, shoot they barely clear above water. I was wondering if anyone has had this problem or if any one had any words of advice for me. Anything mwould be appreiciated. Thanks.

 

[timle]

Well if you can't hear well for a long time after a dive you may have an ear infection or a barotrauma. You should seek a ENT.

As for clearing in the water. Hopefully they taught you to clear early and often. You should clear before you feel any pressure. It took me a few dives to take this extremely literally the earlier and more frequently you clear your ears the better off you will be.

I clear my ears using the pinch nose and blow. But here is the kicker if you do this once you have gone too deep already and are feeling the pain - it won't work. Your tubes have collapsed and trying to force air through at this point can damage them. Ascend until you have no pressure or pain and blow lightly against a pinched nose.

Oh yeah - predive you can exercise your tubes to get them ready. Pinch your nose and lightly blow until you feel slight pressure in your ears - then stop. Repeat. Don't blow hard or you could damage your tubes or ear drums.

If this doesn't work you may have a sinus problem preventing you from clearing easily - this is where the ENT comes in handy again - preferable one who is a diver or knows about diver related ear problems.

 

[Zoomer]

Try to start clearing earlier.... or you could try a 12 hour sudifed to assist in clearing, it usually helps clear the sinuses which intern helps with the ears. You may also want to have your ears and sinuses checked you may have something going on like allergies/cold/etc that is keeping you from clearing....

Just my 2 cents

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

Hi all. I'm in the middle of my Scuba class, and I'm having problems clearing my ears. I get to about 10feet and I get a stabbing, burning, pain in my ears. I've gone to every web site on the 'net to try different ways to clear them and none of them work. Tuesdays are my pool sessions and it usually takes until Saturday for them to clear. This is getting really old really fast! Our open water dive is the first weekend of February and I'm worried that I wont be able to dive if I keep having these problams. My ears will not clear underwater, shoot they barely clear above water. I was wondering if anyone has had this problem or if any one had any words of advice for me. Anything mwould be appreiciated. Thanks.

Hi Stephanie,

I've always have problems with my ears. On a normal day I work my jaw every few minutes to try to keep them clear. And that's on dry land! While driving down a long hill, I once had to pull over until I could get my ears to clear.

I've had to abort a couple of dives, but can usually dive with no problem. On my last couple of dives I could clear without holding my nose, and without even thinking about it.

The first thing you need to keep in mind is clear early and clear often. You can even try to slightly pressurize your ears on the surface, then try to 'keep ahead of the game.' If you feel the slightest pressure in your ears, it may be too late to clear them.

One word of warning, if you use the valsalva maneuver, be careful. You shouldn’t have to blow hard at all, and too much force can cause serious problems.

I had a doctor tell me one time that I should valsalva every few minutes on a regular basis, ‘to get the Eustachian tubes stretched out. He lied. If I valsalva too much, the tubes get irritated and the problem worsens. I recently had an ENT confirm that this is what happens.

So find a method that works without much effort.

I’m a big fan of pseudoephedrine (Sudafed). There are some folks that say that you shouldn’t use it, but from what I’ve read on the DAN website, you just need to use it within reason. For instance, you shouldn’t use it if your congestion is caused by a cold.

And you need to know how your body reacts to it. If you’ve never taken it before, try it on dry land first.

Some people recommend the 24-hr. variety, to be sure that it doesn’t wear off during the dive, but I find that the long-acting Sudafed isn’t as effective for me.

I take the 4-hour tablets about 3 1/2 hours before the dive (to get the tubes clear), then another dose just before the dive, to keep ‘em clear.

I’ve also read about an herbal lozenge called ClearEase, but haven’t tried it.

Also, if the trouble you’ve experienced so far is while free diving, keep in mind that when you’re on SCUBA you can descend/ascend much slower, giving your ears more time to adjust.

Hang in there, and be careful with those ears.

 

[Lisa0825]

During my OW checkout dives, I had problems clearing my left ear, and it ended up bothering me for 3 weeks afterward. The doc gave me steroids for it, but I don't think it really helped. It just gradually healed on its own.

Everyone told me "clear early and often," but I SWEAR I did that!LOL! So, I was a bit concerned about going on my first post-certification dive. Everytime I thought about it for about a week before, I would clear pop my ears (on dry land). On the boat on the way out, I did it every couple minutes. When I got in the water, I did it on the surface, the very instant my head went under, and probably every foot until I got down. NO problems with my ears this time.

I don't know if I just did a better job of it, or if the problems I'd had were just a fluke. But at least now I know this wasn't destined to be a constant problem!

 

[SKBRDVR1]

You might want to try a pair of Doc's Proplugs. They keep the water away from you eardrum and out of your canal and it's easier to clear with them in.

 

[proyce]

I agree with the other posters. Clear on land, and early and often. I do it all the time sitting here at my desk. You may want to see an ear doctor. It is possible you have an ear problem, as you say you have pain. It could also be that you have wax build-up in your ears, which just needs to be cleaned out. I had that same issue and after the doc cleaned my ears I was good to go.

 

[SheriffMedic]

There are multiple ways to clear your ears. The pinch nose system is the most common, I move my jaw side to side and it always clears. I agree that if you are having problems persistant for several days to consult a ENT. As a divemaster, my advice to you is to talk to your instructor and consider re-scheduling your open water days until you have been evaluated by a ENT.

If you push ahead and dive, become injured, you will have a negative attitude towards diving and you may be apprehensive to get back into the water. An ENT can fix your problem.

Take this piece of advice to heart, DO NOT take any kind of sinus medicine before you dive to relieve sinus pressure. If your at depth and the medicine runs out, and your passages close up, you are done. This is called a reverse squeeze and is horrible and potentially lethal. I had a reverse squeeze one time in my diving career. Luckily I was with other experienced divers who realized the situation I was in. They went through with their safety stops and proceeded to the surface. I was subsurface trying to work out my reverse squeeze. My guys show up a few minutes later with 2 tanks of air, with regulators attached to them, a large slate, and sinus medicine. This is the ONLY time I would recommend someone taking sinus medicine is when you have a reverse squeeze.

My guys did great, they called our medical command control, informed them they had dive emergency with a diver at 60 feet with a reverse squeeze. I had 2 options, take the sinus medicine, wait for it to relax my sinuses, or go up and rupture my sinuses. I took the sinus medicine and when my sinus passages opened up, I continued up, did a safety stop, then proceeded to the surface.

 

[scubamickey]

I wouldn't take the short acting sudoephedrine because that will put you at risk for a reverse squeeze if it wears off while you are diving. However, if you take the 12 hour kind it will not wear off until after you are done diving--including an early night dive. Also try taking an anti-inflamatory. It might help with the swollen passages and it won't hurt.

I also agree that you should see a doctor and make sure that you don't have a sinus infection or something more serious than just some mild congestion.

 

[RadRob]

If you still have trouble clearing, it is not the end of your diving.

For many divers, water and pressure are a problem that has to be tolerated. The ProEar mask utilizes silicone cups, which fit over the ears like a stereo headphones and an equalization tube that extends to the top of the mask. You may want to think of this alternative.

http://www.sportdiver.com/article.jsp?ID=674

It doesn't eliminate the need to equalize, but it reduces the number of times you have to do it and it makes it easier. I have never used one but I hear they are nice.