Ruptured Ear Drum Questions

[ripbearer]

Hi folks, I'm leaving for Cozumel on Aug 16 - Aug 22. Me, my son and daughter are diving. Only one problem however.

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter ruptured her ear drum during her open water training. It happened on her last dive so no probs there.

We took her to the Dr and he referred her to the local Ears Nose Throat Dr. He said the hole was pretty small and should heal before we get to her trip and even signed a release for her to dive on the trip.

I'm bothered a little by this. He said if we took precautions to keep water out of her ear by using Doc Dive Plugs and the ProEar 2000 Mask we should be just fine.

Anyone here who can confirm or deny my suspisions? I do plan on taking her back to our local Dr before we go just to see if the hole has healed as predicted. The ENT Dr has no plans on seeing her till we get back.

 

[openmindOW]

I'm not a doctor, but I would be cautious about letting your daughter dive under those circumstances. There are other things yoiu can do in Cozumel. Kayaking, taking trips to the mainland to see Tulum, etc. I would also think about re-visting the Ear,Nose Throat doctor.

 

[openmindOW]

I'm not a doctor, but I would be cautious. There are other things you can do in Cozumel: Kayaking, taking trips to the mainland to see Tulum, etc.

You write that your daughter's tympanic membrane ruptured during her OW dives. I would recommend that you consider the following questions:
1) What were the contributing factors to the rupture?
2) You might want to ask the ENT doc if diving is a good idea for your daughter.
3) Might there be a better place than Cozumel to find out if your daughter's Ears and Esutachian tubes are truly appropriate for diving?
4) What if she has a re-occurrence in Cozumel? Would you rather seek specialized ENT medical care in the Florida Keys or in Cozumel?

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

 

[mrlipis]

So you have a brand new OW diver with the potential of rupturing an eardrum (again). I wouldn't chance it, if she were to have a problem, vertigo would most likely set in and that is not something a newby diver wants to deal with or any diver for that matter. BTW, the Docs plugs work very well for ear problems but I would want to know why it happened in the first place, can it happen again and has the first baratrauma heeled. As Openmind stated, Mexico is not the place to be in need of emergency care. Do you have DAN insurance?

Bruce

 

[dyyys1]

My friend ruptured his eardrum in OW training, but it was a minor rupture and the doctor let him dive again a week later. In other words, I think it depends on the severity of the rupture more than anything else. Listen to your doctor.

 

[mrlipis]

My friend ruptured his eardrum in OW training, but it was a minor rupture and the doctor let him dive again a week later. In other words, I think it depends on the severity of the rupture more than anything else. Listen to your doctor.

Listen to a doctor who understands diving. CALL DAN

 

[ripbearer]

The rupture we concluded was caused when diving with congestion and her trying to hard to clear.

We are going to try the proear mask next weekend and do some pool/snorkel exercises. I agree that Mexico is not the place for emergency care as well.

Like I said before, the perforation was very small and it "should" be healed before we go to Cozumel according to the ENT. Since some time went by before we noticed something was wrong, she had actually dove 3 other days. We just traced back to the OW dive because she was having mild drainage after her dives, but no pain.

Dan says as long as the ear drum is healed then it should be ok. The plugs and proear2000.com mask aren't proven. But peeps who used them on the board say great things about them.

 

[Rickg]

My friend ruptured his eardrum in OW training, but it was a minor rupture and the doctor let him dive again a week later. In other words, I think it depends on the severity of the rupture more than anything else. Listen to your doctor.

I've had a similar problem several times over the past 25 years or so. Like dyyys1 says, it all boils down to the severity of the rupture. Mine were all minor and resolved themselves in 2 weeks or less.

 

[altaskier]

Listen to a doctor who understands diving. CALL DAN

I emphatically endorse this. My wife had some ear problems after her first dives, and ended up getting great help from a local Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor who consulted with a DAN doctor who understands diving. Great combo.

 

[passionforscuba]

I'm not a doctor, but I would be cautious. There are other things you can do in Cozumel: Kayaking, taking trips to the mainland to see Tulum, etc.

You write that your daughter's tympanic membrane ruptured during her OW dives. I would recommend that you consider the following questions:
1) What were the contributing factors to the rupture?
2) You might want to ask the ENT doc if diving is a good idea for your daughter.
3) Might there be a better place than Cozumel to find out if your daughter's Ears and Esutachian tubes are truly appropriate for diving?
4) What if she has a re-occurrence in Cozumel? Would you rather seek specialized ENT medical care in the Florida Keys or in Cozumel?

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

My ear ruptured while diving in Cozumel. I had to go see a doctor while there, and let me tell you, I would definitely rather seek medical care in the Keys. I was miserable and the care was what you would expect of a place like Mexico. My ears were in such pain, and knowing that the medical help was not great left me feeling afraid. Cozumel is drift diving, and therefore they do not use a line to help you get down or come up. This is what caused my barotrauma. I caused it of course, but if there was a line, getting down would have been easier on the ears (and I would have descended slower). I saw the doctor in his home (that was where his practice was), and had to buy my medication(even though I still don't know what it was) at a 7-11 type place. Considering the fact that Cozumel doesn't use a line and does not have the best doctor care, I would definitely consider changing the location or date of your trip. Yes, it is a bummer, but trust me, you do not want to have ear problems in Cozumel, or dive in Cozumel right after you have a ruptured eardrum. Regardless, make sure that you purchase DAN (divers insurance).