Think I suffered ear Barotrauma last Saturday when getting certified.

[Weekiman]

Hello! I'm not trained in dive / hyperbaric medicine, I'm a pediatric ENT doc who occasionally sees adult divers for minor stuff. But maybe I can either help or point you in the right direction. Feel free to PM me.

Thanks doctormike, I will.

 

[Streydog]

a formal list does not, however DAN does maintain a list

I called DAN a couple years ago with help finding an ENT in the DFW area. They did give me a list but after calling all of them I could not get an appointment within 6 weeks. In my search I found many ENT's only deal with allergies.

 

[Weekiman]

I called DAN a couple years ago with help finding an ENT in the DFW area. They did give me a list but after calling all of them I could not get an appointment within 6 weeks. In my search I found many ENT's on deal with allergies.

That's a bummer. I'm close to Tampa. I'm wonder if one can tell me why it's more difficult for me to clear then other people.

 

[chillyinCanada]

That's a bummer. I'm close to Tampa. I'm wonder if one can tell me why it's more difficult for me to clear then other people.

Why don't you start by telling us how many dives you have and explain your difficulty to us here?

 

[Weekiman]

Why don't you start by telling us how many dives you have and explain your difficulty to us here?

Well I kind of did in a different post, but not on this one. Maybe I should start a new thread with a better headline, but this is what happened.

I was getting certified. We did four dives total. I probably over did my Valsalva maneuver and ended up with fluid in my middle ear and congestion. Clear fluid with trace of blood. Took three days for my head to clear. Muffled hearing, pressure, pop, crack, wheeze when doing the Valsalva maneuver. Last two morning my head was about 20% thick, but I was able to clear. My ears have been popping and cracking often since the dive. Think I'm almost back to normal.

I got certified 40 years ago, but only done once after that. I vaguely remember that I couldn't clear as well as other people. I just recently re-certified last weekend. I have a history of hay fever, and just daily congestion in general. I knew going into certification I was probably going to have an issue. The first day in the pool I was able to clear without congestion. Felt normal afterwards. No thickness or muffled hearing in head. I was feeling good going into my open water dive. First two dives think I was okay.

Sitting here doing the Valsalva maneuver, I hear a few pop, crack, and but feel pressure not relief of pressure. The when I swallow the pressure goes away with pop, crack, and occasionally wheeze every time I swallow.

 

[chillyinCanada]

The first thing that you need to do, is quit doing the valsalva right now. I know that your ears feel weird, sound weird and may be acting weird but you need to give them a break.

I'm sorry but I'm not clear on how long it has been since your last dive?

 

[Weekiman]

The first thing that you need to do, is quit doing the valsalva right now. I know that your ears feel weird, sound weird and may be acting weird but you need to give them a break.

I'm sorry but I'm not clear on how long it has been since your last dive?

It's been 6 days.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

The first thing that you need to do, is quit doing the valsalva right now. I know that your ears feel weird, sound weird and may be acting weird but you need to give them a break.

I'm sorry but I'm not clear on how long it has been since your last dive?

There are some caveats to this. If he can't equalize at all, he shouldn't be trying to do a Valsalva. If he can clear and just has some gurgling, performing a gentle Valsalva can help clear the fluid from the ears. I told him this in his other thread.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hey y'all just want to report my ears cleared a couple days ago. Still the last two morning I'd say I was about 20% blocked. Did the Valsalva some pop, crack, and everything cleared again. I'm not sure what the significance of the morning is. Thanks for all the info!

Great to hear. Just take it easy on them, again it may take a couple of weeks until they feel like they're back to normal, maybe even more than that. It is a good sign that you can equalize with a Valsalva - it probably means that you just got behind on your ear clearing on your certification dives.

I'm going to recommend that the mods merge your two threads together since they're addressing the same issue.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[rhwestfall]

Would it be a benefit to chew some gum?