Ear trouble

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DC_Vert

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South Africa
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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?
 
Welcome to SB!

Your thread slide to page 2 as it's not actually an Intro, but this will give it another spin. :wink: 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.

Also see this thread: Ear Equalizing Video from Univ of Washington, Really a must-see for any newbie http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=189943
 
Try using Afrin the day before you dive. I had trouble equalizing. I contacted DAN and they sent to a dive-friendly ent who suggested it. Works like a charm.
 
I did read the part where you say that she does equalize before the beginning of the descent. However, I think the key sentence is "before beginning the descent".

I'm no expert, but for me I usually equalize for like at least five minutes before even jumping into the water. A whole lot of swallowing, and blowing through your nose (not actual blowing, but the motion of it) and that worked like a charm for me. Since then I've not had a single problem descending at all.

I hope it'll help. It can't hurt at the very least. Believe me, I had horrible pain when descending and finding this solution really made me quite relieved.

Of course, one person's solution is another person's problem, so I hope you find something that will work. Best of luck.
 
I find a non-drowsy antihistamine works well for me during the allergy season. Afrin doesn't seem to do too much, except irritate my throat. There are risks associated with sudafed, but studies has been done to show that it does prevent barotrauma. Be aware of the short half life of sudafed, so you don't get the "rebound" congestion on your second dive....

Afrin if used for more than 4 or 5 days will have noticeable rebound congestion when you stop... It last for a few days, but be aware of it.
 
I used to have a lot of problems with my ears...so much so that I felt guilty holding everyone up because I'd have to descend a bit...then back up...descend a bit more...then back up. It was a drag.

This may be total bs but someone on SB told me to start equalizing EARLY! Not just the day of the dive but up to a week before the dive. More often as it gets closer.....the morning of the dive at the hotel ...several times on the way to the boat...on the boat...etc.

I don't know if that's what solved my problem or it just went away after more dives but after I started doing that, I never had the problem again. So, it may be superstition...but one I'm willing to follow. As I said though...I have no idea if it is what ACTUALLY solved my ear problem.
 
Hi fisherdvm,

fisherdvm:
There are risks associated with sudafed, but studies has been done to show that it does prevent barotrauma. Be aware of the short half life of sudafed, so you don't get the "rebound" congestion on your second dive....

Speaking of "sudafed (sic)" in the generic makes little sense as there are in fact at least 16 different Sudafed-branded products http://www.sudafed.com/products.html. As can be seen, these products contain a variety of different drugs and therefore can be expected to have somewhat different effects and adverse reactions.

When speaking of "Sudafed," it makes good medical sense to specify which product is being referred to.

Regards,

DocVikingo
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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