WARNING: Don't use ear plugs!

[hardin]

Lesson for the day....... Unless there is some abnormal pathology in the outer ear canal, it is impossible for water to trap in the outer ear canal when you stand up. God is a great Engineer & designed them with the same idea as he did your nose. Have you noted that your nose points down so we don't drown in a rain storm. Considering the nasal canals go straight back from the nose across the roof of the mouth, the nose pointing down was an obvious design feature. Now the external ear canals were designed with the same thought in mind. The extenal canals are pointed up & forward toward the back of the eye. Please note this is a very elementary description of the ear anatomy. This design prevents water or other stuff from entering the ears, except in kids as they insert beans, candy, paper, & many other items in any available oriface to see if they can. Hense I have had the experience in removing said items & others multiple times. God didn't make mistakes in the ear & nose design...... therefore we don't drown or lose hearing if we go out in the rain. The sensation of "water in the ear" is a sysmptom of injury or damage to the middle ear. Which can not get water into it, typically, unless the integrity of the typanic membrane has been compromised, ie: ruptured, torn, or perferated in some way. When you get a sensation of water running around in the ear you are actually "hearing" the fluid moving around in the semi-circular canal structure housed in the inner ear. This injury is typically caused by an over pressure injury on ascent or descent. Prevention is simple...... clear your ears properly. My teaching years, which number way more than I care to admit, & my medical training has shown this to be the true problem. Water just can't be "trapped" in the normal outer ear canal!
Pain after introduction of alcohol in the outer ear can be a very serious problem as it indicates an injury to the soft tissues of the ear & should never be done. Just as alcohol stings in a cut of the hand it does so in the ear. And the tissues of the ear are a lot more delicate than those of your finger. If pain occurs immediatelly seek medical attention.......PERIOD...... before you dive again! If you get alcohol into the middle ear, permanent damage is very likely to occur & can cause permanent damage to the ear & your hearing. One last thing..... NEVER EVER PUT A Q-TIP INTO THE EAR. One of the worst ruptures of the tempanic membrane was caused by a Boy Scout at Sea Base by using a q-tip to get the water out of his ear. Result was a doctor visit, loss of diving & snorkeling for the week & for a minimum of 4 to 6 months.
And an opinion........ Never use ear plugs in the ear while diving in anyway!!!!
Grady MSDT REMCS PEMT EMSC

 

[fairybasslet]

Sorry you had trouble but I've done about 300 dives with them. When used properly, they are perfectly safe.

 

[mts0628]

WOW! I never have never seen or heard of people using earplugs in diving until this thread. But if they work for some, keep on keepin' on. Actually, I did see a guy with a mask that looked like he has sippy straws going to plastic earmuffs but- I did not want to know and resisted the urge to ask.

I will offer this advice; I too hate water in my ears post dive. What I do is after I doff my gear, I forcefully throw my head forward (as if you were getting rear ended in a car crash) and simultaneously turn my head to which ever ear feels like it has the most water. I do this maybe one or two times for each ear, and it's so weird that you can feel the water flowing out of the ear. Of course, you look kinda' silly too, like a punk rocker, but at least you'll have comfortable and dryer ears!

I hope this helps!
Thomas

 

[TheScubaBOB]

WOW! I never have never seen or heard of people using earplugs in diving until this thread. But if they work for some, keep on keepin' on. Actually, I did see a guy with a mask that looked like he has sippy straws going to plastic earmuffs but- I did not want to know and resisted the urge to ask.

That would be the ProEar Scuba Mask! I tripped across those when I was researching my gear before purchasing.

 

[mts0628]

That would be the ProEar Scuba Mask! I tripped across those when I was researching my gear before purchasing.

Ahhh! Did you get it and if you did, did it do what it was supposed to? Just curious. mts

 

[PfcAJ]

Lesson for the day....... Unless there is some abnormal pathology in the outer ear canal, it is impossible for water to trap in the outer ear canal when you stand up. God is a great Engineer & designed them with the same idea as he did your nose. Have you noted that your nose points down so we don't drown in a rain storm. Considering the nasal canals go straight back from the nose across the roof of the mouth, the nose pointing down was an obvious design feature. Now the external ear canals were designed with the same thought in mind. The extenal canals are pointed up & forward toward the back of the eye. Please note this is a very elementary description of the ear anatomy. This design prevents water or other stuff from entering the ears, except in kids as they insert beans, candy, paper, & many other items in any available oriface to see if they can. Hense I have had the experience in removing said items & others multiple times. God didn't make mistakes in the ear & nose design...... therefore we don't drown or lose hearing if we go out in the rain. The sensation of "water in the ear" is a sysmptom of injury or damage to the middle ear. Which can not get water into it, typically, unless the integrity of the typanic membrane has been compromised, ie: ruptured, torn, or perferated in some way. When you get a sensation of water running around in the ear you are actually "hearing" the fluid moving around in the semi-circular canal structure housed in the inner ear. This injury is typically caused by an over pressure injury on ascent or descent. Prevention is simple...... clear your ears properly. My teaching years, which number way more than I care to admit, & my medical training has shown this to be the true problem. Water just can't be "trapped" in the normal outer ear canal!
Pain after introduction of alcohol in the outer ear can be a very serious problem as it indicates an injury to the soft tissues of the ear & should never be done. Just as alcohol stings in a cut of the hand it does so in the ear. And the tissues of the ear are a lot more delicate than those of your finger. If pain occurs immediatelly seek medical attention.......PERIOD...... before you dive again! If you get alcohol into the middle ear, permanent damage is very likely to occur & can cause permanent damage to the ear & your hearing. One last thing..... NEVER EVER PUT A Q-TIP INTO THE EAR. One of the worst ruptures of the tempanic membrane was caused by a Boy Scout at Sea Base by using a q-tip to get the water out of his ear. Result was a doctor visit, loss of diving & snorkeling for the week & for a minimum of 4 to 6 months.
And an opinion........ Never use ear plugs in the ear while diving in anyway!!!!
Grady MSDT REMCS PEMT EMSC

While you have some nice letters after your name, you are not entirely correct. Water CAN remain in the ear, and no, every time someone has the sensation of water in the ear, it is NOT damage to the ear.

Everyone is not the same, and people's ear canals can vary quite a bit. If a person has an ear canal on the narrower side, it is more likely for water to be 'trapped', similar to water beading up and staying in a straw.

 

[TheScubaBOB]

Ahhh! Did you get it and if you did, did it do what it was supposed to? Just curious. mts

Nope, for a few reasons:

1. I thought they looked rather goofy.

2. Never really worried about keeping my ears dry when diving.

3. The "Straws" are so the new air pockets over your ears can be equalized when you equalize your mask.

4. The whole system just seems a little complex and adds additional potential problems to what is probably the most simple piece of gear I use.

5. I like my ScubaPro CrystalVu mask so much that I purchased the exact model with a purge value and now use the purge mask as my primary with the non-purge as back-up & for snorkeling.

 

[daniel1948]

How about drops in the ear canal after the dive, 50/50 alcohol and vinegar. Dries em up, cleans em out.

I do use drops, as mentioned in my first post. I've talked to folks who use various home-made solutions, such as alcohol/vinegar or hydrogen peroxide and something. I use the store-bought stuff.

I too hate water in my ears post dive. What I do is after I doff my gear, I forcefully throw my head forward (as if you were getting rear ended in a car crash) and simultaneously turn my head to which ever ear feels like it has the most water. I do this maybe one or two times for each ear, and it's so weird that you can feel the water flowing out of the ear. Of course, you look kinda' silly too, like a punk rocker, but at least you'll have comfortable and dryer ears!

Ever since I was a kid, what I do is jump up and down on one leg with my head over to the side. It usually has the effect you describe, but does not always work.

Lesson for the day....... Unless there is some abnormal pathology in the outer ear canal, it is impossible for water to trap in the outer ear canal when you stand up. <...snip...>

Without getting into a religious discussion over design, your assertion that water cannot get trapped in the outer ear, and that the sensation of water trapped in the ear is always in the inner ear and always a serious problem, seems to run counter to the observation that a very large number of divers report that they always have the sensation of water trapped in the ears, without any apparent ill effects other than temporary discomfort from the sensation itself.

The fact that the Ear-Dry caused pain was a clear indication of some sort of damage, but the fact that it no longer caused pain a day later suggested to me that the damage was more along the lines of a brief inflammation or minor abrasion than a rupture. I thought the captain's advice, to descend slowly to 15 feet and then slowly surface, as a test, was good. He is not a doctor. But the nearest doctor would have been several hours' helicopter ride away.

I made a conscious decision to take the chance, on the theory that if getting sea water in my ear was going to do permanent damage, then it had already been done, but that, since my hearing was absolutely normal, if neither water nor pressure caused any discomfort, then I could continue to dive safely. Perhaps there was also a bit of the "get back on the horse" philosophy.

I learned a lot on this trip. I took the Peak Performance Buoyancy, Night, and Navigation dives from the AOW course (stopped short of AOW because I decided I was not ready for the deep dive) and benefited from all of them, I learned to avoid unusual gadgets, and I added 50% to my total dives.

 

[Slonda828]

OP,

I would go see a qualified medical doctor about your ears, regardless of what your anecdotal experience about them tells you. When I was in the military, I ruptured my ear drums several times, and a few of those times I did not even know that my ear drum was perforated until my Doc told me. It's your life, but you only get one set of ears and "listening to your Ipod" is not a preferred method to determine whether or not you have any clinical hearing loss. You spend money on dive gear, why not spend a 40 dollar copay for a visit to the Doc?

 

[hardin]

Well now.... How about read ALL the words & sentences of my statement. My instructor in ENT told me after I saw 10,000 ear drums I would be pretty good at diagnosing problems. I have done that..... What's your count? Please note I said NORMAL ear anatomy. I did not address ears with existing pathology like excessive cerumen or exostosis or other pathologies of the ear. The proper diagnostics & treatment of the ear requires an ENT experienced in the treatment of hyperbaric injuries of the ear. Believe me this is something that "average" ENT's never see as a part of thier normal practice. As far as the "water" in the ear problem, ANY injury of the ear can be very serious. I saw many injuries of the ears from flying with cold or sinus conditions. I have even seen a patient with a ruptured oval window that was the result of a chopper flight of less than 5000 feet. To clarify what all this is about: Pain in the ear resulting from scuba is to be treated seriously!!! Now go look up all these pathological problems of the ear & maybe you will understand a little more about the ear, its normal anatomy, & some of the pathalogy of this EXTREMELY delicate part ofthe body. By the way..... If you like scuba & plan to do it awhile, maybe you will investigate & learn about these "minor" ear irritations before they ruin diving for you & some of the others your misinformation may influence.
Grady
Master Scuba Diver Trainer PADI #9XXX
Florida Skin Diving Association instructor #2XX
Paramedic Texas & South Carolina Retired
Paramedic Instructor Texas
Emergencey Medical Services Coordinator 12 years Texas Retired
American Heart Association Advanced Cardiac Life Support Instructor Retired
Remote Environment Medical Care Specialist
Hope this clarifies a few of the letters behind my name...........
Not so good typist