Non-rupture Eardrum Trauma. Tinnitue & Mucus basic questions

[AndreShoumatoff]

Hi there,

I had a light diving related eardrum trauma (veins throuhgout left drum, partial on the right) due to some equalizing issues / light congestion, about a week ago. The local ENT called it "stage 4" --- and I have some tinnitus now. Other symptoms are mild, which are some additional mucus in my ears and in general (mild though and getting milder - it was bad for a couple days after the trauma), and my eustacians are "sticky". Otherwise everything is fine and I am not panicking, just trying to understand it all.

The symptoms are mostly the tinnitus and just a smidge of mild vertigo in the middle of the night last night. The vertigo might not be related though as I've experienced it a couple times now as I'm getting into my 40s and seemingly am sometimes really out of it when I wake up in the middle of the night.

I have an appointment with the next available ENT locally here in SLC in about a week.

The mucus should clear out of the middle ear naturally, correct? and just takes time to heal, and the tinnitus should clear out too, based on what I've read? I'm also read some stories of needing surgery to get hardened mucus out. But I imagine this is quite rare?

thanks,
Andre

 

[fmerkel]

Did the ENT say you have mucus in your middle ear or is that your interpretation? You don't, it's blood from the trauma, kind of like a blood blister/bruise. Barring problems it should clear over time.
Tinnitus is also from the barotrauma, and the pressure from the blood in the ear. Hopefully it will improve as the ear heals and clears. That is a wait and see situation.Not a whole lot else you can do.
Same with the vertigo as it (probably) is a component of the inner ear.

I don't know what the ENT 'stages' are for this kind of situation, but a stage 4 seems not to be trivial.
You may want to go over this:
Beat the Squeeze: Equalize Like a Pro

 

[AndreShoumatoff]

Great - thanks.

thanks for the link as well, I ahve read that article several times now to the point I even joined DAN already.

The ENT's opinion was mostly mucus with a little blood mixed in. His immediate response so to save the vacation was instantly a cocktail of nasal and oral decongestants, which worked great. Both my sinuses (and seemingly ears) went into mucus production overdrive mode. The amount of blood was not big at all and was quite normal I've been told. The dive instructors and friends say that blood in your loogies post diving is somewhat common related to small injuries to the drums when diving often (not sure if that's the case, but they were not panic'd at all). So that is my interpretation of what he told me.

And it worked. For a solid day I felt like I had 'water' in my ears and hearing was slightly muffled. After a day it was was fine and in about 48 hours I could equalize again and the vacation was salvaged. If my inner ear were full of blood the amount of blood would have been much more, in my humble opinion.

thanks

 

[fmerkel]

Blood in your sinuses you will see in nasal discharge. It may or may not be a 'big deal'. Depends on what's going on with them. I started out with bad sinus issues 25 years ago, from my first dives and been dealing with them ever since.
Blood from your middle ear/Eustachian tubes you are unlikely to see. It tends to drain into the back of your throat and would be a trivial amount, not "much much more".

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi there,

I had a light diving related eardrum trauma (veins throuhgout left drum, partial on the right) due to some equalizing issues / light congestion, about a week ago. The local ENT called it "stage 4" --- and I have some tinnitus now. Other symptoms are mild, which are some additional mucus in my ears and in general (mild though and getting milder - it was bad for a couple days after the trauma), and my eustacians are "sticky". Otherwise everything is fine and I am not panicking, just trying to understand it all.

The symptoms are mostly the tinnitus and just a smidge of mild vertigo in the middle of the night last night. The vertigo might not be related though as I've experienced it a couple times now as I'm getting into my 40s and seemingly am sometimes really out of it when I wake up in the middle of the night.

I have an appointment with the next available ENT locally here in SLC in about a week.

The mucus should clear out of the middle ear naturally, correct? and just takes time to heal, and the tinnitus should clear out too, based on what I've read? I'm also read some stories of needing surgery to get hardened mucus out. But I imagine this is quite rare?

thanks,
Andre

Good morning Andre,

The tympanic membrane findings and the fluid in the middle ear are not terribly concerning. Personally, if an ENT physician called the fluid mucus I'd believe him, and would wonder about a middle ear infection. Did he prescribe antibiotics in addition to the decongestants?

Of greater concern are the tinnitus and vertigo. These symptoms are not typically found with middle ear barotrauma and are more indicative of inner ear barotrauma. Do I understand your post to mean that the tinnitus is resolving? If so, that's reassuring.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[AndreShoumatoff]

Thanks so much for the response. I'm sorry I forgot about this post so pardon the long time between the reply. The tinnitus has mostly gone away and gotten much better. The vertigo was very brief and has not happened since so I think I was just being a little overly cautious or sensitive about it. I finally have the appointment with the ENT tomorrow, but it feels so good that I'm tempted to cancel it. But will not. I'll let everyone know what he says, I think it was just your standard eardrum mild trauma, and just like everyone says and most of the internet, just takes a couple weeks to heal off and that's seemingly about where it is. I do have some light tinnitus that I can hear when it's very quiet, but again this has gotten very mild. Thank you very much!

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Thanks so much for the response. I'm sorry I forgot about this post so pardon the long time between the reply. The tinnitus has mostly gone away and gotten much better. The vertigo was very brief and has not happened since so I think I was just being a little overly cautious or sensitive about it. I finally have the appointment with the ENT tomorrow, but it feels so good that I'm tempted to cancel it. But will not. I'll let everyone know what he says, I think it was just your standard eardrum mild trauma, and just like everyone says and most of the internet, just takes a couple weeks to heal off and that's seemingly about where it is. I do have some light tinnitus that I can hear when it's very quiet, but again this has gotten very mild. Thank you very much!

You may have had some mild inner ear barotrauma. It's reassuring that your tinnitus and vertigo seem to be resolving; I think it's definitely a good idea to keep the appointment with the ENT. .

Best regards,
DDM