DC_Vert
New
Hi there
My girlfriend and I have recently started diving and the concern I have is directed at someone who is rather well informed about ENT issues (A physician who dives - ideally). We have been struggling with it for some time now and have tried a number of different potential solutions. Please be patient with me, it is a rather long story...
When we started diving my girlfriend was using a variety of equalization techniques (Including valsalva) but wasn't using enough pressure to equalize correctly. It's important to note that our instructor is very concerned about the possibility of injury and followed all of the recommended best practices including equalizing before beginning the descent, descending really slowly, allowing water to fill the ear cavity, and multiple variations on equalizing all the way down (5meters/15 feet maximum). The result, however, was that she experienced pain and, upon investigation by an ENT specialist, there had been some bleeding (No signs externally). There were no other signs of damage, and no blockages. Also, she used to use earbuds (Which we got her to stop altogether before starting diving). She had to abort the dive.
Since then we have gone diving twice. The first time she could successfully go down twice - with no pain or discomfort, thereafter not again and the second she could not go down at all. As both these dives were within two weeks of the initial discomfort could it be that the damage had not yet healed?
Secondly, we have given her ears a chance to rest/recover (Around three/four weeks) and have been considering some possibilities to reduce the strain on her ears. These include Proplugs, a hoody and sinus medicine. These are the only things I can think of. We are rather concerned that she may not be able to dive. Any suggestions?
My girlfriend and I have recently started diving and the concern I have is directed at someone who is rather well informed about ENT issues (A physician who dives - ideally). We have been struggling with it for some time now and have tried a number of different potential solutions. Please be patient with me, it is a rather long story...
When we started diving my girlfriend was using a variety of equalization techniques (Including valsalva) but wasn't using enough pressure to equalize correctly. It's important to note that our instructor is very concerned about the possibility of injury and followed all of the recommended best practices including equalizing before beginning the descent, descending really slowly, allowing water to fill the ear cavity, and multiple variations on equalizing all the way down (5meters/15 feet maximum). The result, however, was that she experienced pain and, upon investigation by an ENT specialist, there had been some bleeding (No signs externally). There were no other signs of damage, and no blockages. Also, she used to use earbuds (Which we got her to stop altogether before starting diving). She had to abort the dive.
Since then we have gone diving twice. The first time she could successfully go down twice - with no pain or discomfort, thereafter not again and the second she could not go down at all. As both these dives were within two weeks of the initial discomfort could it be that the damage had not yet healed?
Secondly, we have given her ears a chance to rest/recover (Around three/four weeks) and have been considering some possibilities to reduce the strain on her ears. These include Proplugs, a hoody and sinus medicine. These are the only things I can think of. We are rather concerned that she may not be able to dive. Any suggestions?
I see that Snep gave you a lik to the Science forum, and - I wonder if he meant to link you to the Medical forum within that area. Look in Medical for more threads along this line.
