SSHL from Baro Trauma
- Thread starter John S
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Hi John,
Thanks much for the update.
We are usually very conservative with inner ear barotrauma patients and caution them not to dive again because of the increased risk of further injury. Looking a bit beyond that, there are a few "ifs" to your question. IF you had inner ear barotrauma that was directly related to poor equalization technique, IF you have no anatomic anomalies that would interfere with your ability to equalize, IF you've now perfected ear equalization, IF you're careful about your diving conditions and descents, and IF you're extremely vigilant about equalization and don't re-injure the affected ear or hurt the other one, you'd probably be ok. Nobody on the internet is in a position to address any of those questions, though, so it's really between you and your practitioner. Mike summed it up well with his words about personally assuming an unknown increased risk of further ear injury. With a career at stake, well, again it's up to you, but if it was me I'd say it's probably not worth it.
If you're ever in the Raleigh-Durham area, we'd be happy to see you. We have an ENT physician, Dr. David Kaylie, who works with us regularly so we could set up appointments with his clinic and ours. PM me if I can help you with that.
Best regards,
DDM
Thanks much for the update.
We are usually very conservative with inner ear barotrauma patients and caution them not to dive again because of the increased risk of further injury. Looking a bit beyond that, there are a few "ifs" to your question. IF you had inner ear barotrauma that was directly related to poor equalization technique, IF you have no anatomic anomalies that would interfere with your ability to equalize, IF you've now perfected ear equalization, IF you're careful about your diving conditions and descents, and IF you're extremely vigilant about equalization and don't re-injure the affected ear or hurt the other one, you'd probably be ok. Nobody on the internet is in a position to address any of those questions, though, so it's really between you and your practitioner. Mike summed it up well with his words about personally assuming an unknown increased risk of further ear injury. With a career at stake, well, again it's up to you, but if it was me I'd say it's probably not worth it.
If you're ever in the Raleigh-Durham area, we'd be happy to see you. We have an ENT physician, Dr. David Kaylie, who works with us regularly so we could set up appointments with his clinic and ours. PM me if I can help you with that.
Best regards,
DDM
John-
I am in the same position now that you were in. I had completed my second dive in Cozumel and when I got back on the boat my left ear hurt and had some equalization issues but it quickly cleared. I was still completely deaf in my right ear with no pain. When I returned back home to Houston, I immediately called my ENT (who I have great trust in) and made an appointment. I first saw the audiologist and I have sever hearing loss in my right ear. I can hear high tones but none of the low ones. I don't have fluid in that ear, never had pain and was only a little dizzy due to the weird sensation of not being able to hear. I never had vertigo, etc. He prescribed me a high dose of steroids and ordered a CT scan of my temporal bone (scheduled Wednesday) to look at the ear area. Do you have any advise, or did you come across any more research? Also, did you ever find an otologist that specializes in this in the Houston area? Any advise would be greatly appreciated....
I am in the same position now that you were in. I had completed my second dive in Cozumel and when I got back on the boat my left ear hurt and had some equalization issues but it quickly cleared. I was still completely deaf in my right ear with no pain. When I returned back home to Houston, I immediately called my ENT (who I have great trust in) and made an appointment. I first saw the audiologist and I have sever hearing loss in my right ear. I can hear high tones but none of the low ones. I don't have fluid in that ear, never had pain and was only a little dizzy due to the weird sensation of not being able to hear. I never had vertigo, etc. He prescribed me a high dose of steroids and ordered a CT scan of my temporal bone (scheduled Wednesday) to look at the ear area. Do you have any advise, or did you come across any more research? Also, did you ever find an otologist that specializes in this in the Houston area? Any advise would be greatly appreciated....
Hi Donley,
I'm not sure how many days into this you are. My SSHL was immediately treated with a regimen of oral steroids and antibiotics. I was able to judge that their were changes happening by attempting to listeni to the exact same voicemail on my cellphone with the damaged ear every day.
Never found a dive ENT in Houston and don't really know that it's necessary.
I think my biggest advice is to not push for someone to cut on it to soon. If you do you WILL eventually find someone who will oblige. As one honest surgeon told me, "you don't have vertigo now, but if I go in there you might have vertigo when I'm done".
I'm sure you read I was told the odds of recovery were 50%. I fully recovered use of the ear with tinnitus that lasts to this day as a reminder.
Good luck.
I'm not sure how many days into this you are. My SSHL was immediately treated with a regimen of oral steroids and antibiotics. I was able to judge that their were changes happening by attempting to listeni to the exact same voicemail on my cellphone with the damaged ear every day.
Never found a dive ENT in Houston and don't really know that it's necessary.
I think my biggest advice is to not push for someone to cut on it to soon. If you do you WILL eventually find someone who will oblige. As one honest surgeon told me, "you don't have vertigo now, but if I go in there you might have vertigo when I'm done".
I'm sure you read I was told the odds of recovery were 50%. I fully recovered use of the ear with tinnitus that lasts to this day as a reminder.
Good luck.
John-
Thank you for your quick response! I got to my ENT 3 days after. He put me on a strong dose of steroids for the next 10 days. I called DAN and spoke with medical staff on call and she felt confident that my ENT was on the right track with his treatment plan. I keep listening to the same voice mail on my phone as guide to my improvement (thanks to your thread). I think I can make out the words a little better today, compared to yesterday when I couldn't hear anything. I think the being on the steroids for 24 hours has already made some improvement and I am hoping and praying that each day it will improve! Im happy to hear you made great important and thank you for responding. It was really hard to find much information on this...
Thank you for your quick response! I got to my ENT 3 days after. He put me on a strong dose of steroids for the next 10 days. I called DAN and spoke with medical staff on call and she felt confident that my ENT was on the right track with his treatment plan. I keep listening to the same voice mail on my phone as guide to my improvement (thanks to your thread). I think I can make out the words a little better today, compared to yesterday when I couldn't hear anything. I think the being on the steroids for 24 hours has already made some improvement and I am hoping and praying that each day it will improve! Im happy to hear you made great important and thank you for responding. It was really hard to find much information on this...
