I just got the news from my ENT yesterday that I have barotrauma in my right ear from a dive 3 weeks ago. Luckily, I did not perforate my eardrum and my hearing is likely not permanently damaged...but I thought I'd share my story so that others can learn from my experience.
I was DMing a class at a quite shallow site that my LDS uses for training OW students (you can't hit 20 fsw at low tide unless you bring a shovel). I was feeling well that day and did two dives - on both dives, I had no trouble clearing my ears at any time, but when I was getting ready to go home, I was aware of a feeling of fullness in my right ear that I attributed to water in my ear. I treated it with ear drops and didn't think much more about it.
The next day, I developed symptoms of a head cold, which I treated with Zicam (a homeopathic med) and Sudafed for the duration - about 10 days. Over the course of that 10 days, I developed a "buzzing" in my right ear and the sensation of fullness continued. I also felt that I couldn't hear as well out of that ear, although I could still hear some. I was called to DM another class (last pool session and OW checkouts only) and told my LDS that I would only do it if I felt that I could easily equalize my ears by the time the class came up. I could, so I went ahead with the dives. No problems on those dives, however, the sensation of fullness, the buzzing and decreased hearing didn't resolve.
After 2 1/2 weeks of buzzing in my ear with no resolution, I was sufficiently concerned to make an appointment with an ENT. I was concerned enough that I declined to dive over the weekend before the appointment, even though I could easily equalize both ears.
On exam, the ENT determined that I had blood visible behind the eardrum in my right ear, indicating that there had been barotrauma - likely, by the symptoms, from the initial dive 3 weeks prior. An audiology exam revealed that I indeed had some mild hearing loss on the low end of the spectrum of sound, which he felt was conductive, rather than due to nerve damage (i.e. the blood in the middle ear was blocking the conduction of sound to the inner ear). My ear drum is intact and there's no fluid that would indicate a rupture of the round window (a much more serious injury).
I spent a great deal of time mentally beating myself up for screwing my ear up - especially since I'm a DM and should know better, and said so to the ENT. He told me that he felt that in this case, it was unlikely that it was my "fault" - that it was likely that this occurred because I probably had some congestion in my eustachian tube due to the oncoming cold that I was completely unaware of and that, since I'd had no discernable problem clearing my ears, that was the cause of the barotrauma. So I'd really done nothing "wrong." I will say that he made me feel a bit better.
I will admit, however, that it's been my practice since starting diving to clear my ears when I "feel" the need to do so - not at the point that I have any pain, but at the point when I feel some slight pressure. I now believe that that is running the risk of waiting too long - especially when one could - as was my case - have congestion due to an oncoming cold and be completely unaware of it.
I will be changing my equalizing habit to clearing every few feet, whether I feel I "need" to or not.
I know that I got out of this with a lot of luck. I could've easily ruptured my eardrum or had permanent hearing loss due to nerve damage. As it is, he feels that my hearing will return to normal once the blood has reabsorbed and the pressure is off my inner ear. I am getting away with a short course of steroids, a return visit and another hearing test. And I'm cleared to dive now, as long as I can equalize easily.
I just wanted to share this with others so that maybe some of you can avoid the problem I had - or even worse. I know that I spent a few anxious minutes wondering what I would do if his prognosis was "You need to stop diving" or "Your hearing is damaged for good." While not life-threatening, it's still scary stuff.
I was DMing a class at a quite shallow site that my LDS uses for training OW students (you can't hit 20 fsw at low tide unless you bring a shovel). I was feeling well that day and did two dives - on both dives, I had no trouble clearing my ears at any time, but when I was getting ready to go home, I was aware of a feeling of fullness in my right ear that I attributed to water in my ear. I treated it with ear drops and didn't think much more about it.
The next day, I developed symptoms of a head cold, which I treated with Zicam (a homeopathic med) and Sudafed for the duration - about 10 days. Over the course of that 10 days, I developed a "buzzing" in my right ear and the sensation of fullness continued. I also felt that I couldn't hear as well out of that ear, although I could still hear some. I was called to DM another class (last pool session and OW checkouts only) and told my LDS that I would only do it if I felt that I could easily equalize my ears by the time the class came up. I could, so I went ahead with the dives. No problems on those dives, however, the sensation of fullness, the buzzing and decreased hearing didn't resolve.
After 2 1/2 weeks of buzzing in my ear with no resolution, I was sufficiently concerned to make an appointment with an ENT. I was concerned enough that I declined to dive over the weekend before the appointment, even though I could easily equalize both ears.
On exam, the ENT determined that I had blood visible behind the eardrum in my right ear, indicating that there had been barotrauma - likely, by the symptoms, from the initial dive 3 weeks prior. An audiology exam revealed that I indeed had some mild hearing loss on the low end of the spectrum of sound, which he felt was conductive, rather than due to nerve damage (i.e. the blood in the middle ear was blocking the conduction of sound to the inner ear). My ear drum is intact and there's no fluid that would indicate a rupture of the round window (a much more serious injury).
I spent a great deal of time mentally beating myself up for screwing my ear up - especially since I'm a DM and should know better, and said so to the ENT. He told me that he felt that in this case, it was unlikely that it was my "fault" - that it was likely that this occurred because I probably had some congestion in my eustachian tube due to the oncoming cold that I was completely unaware of and that, since I'd had no discernable problem clearing my ears, that was the cause of the barotrauma. So I'd really done nothing "wrong." I will say that he made me feel a bit better.
I will admit, however, that it's been my practice since starting diving to clear my ears when I "feel" the need to do so - not at the point that I have any pain, but at the point when I feel some slight pressure. I now believe that that is running the risk of waiting too long - especially when one could - as was my case - have congestion due to an oncoming cold and be completely unaware of it.
I will be changing my equalizing habit to clearing every few feet, whether I feel I "need" to or not.
I know that I got out of this with a lot of luck. I could've easily ruptured my eardrum or had permanent hearing loss due to nerve damage. As it is, he feels that my hearing will return to normal once the blood has reabsorbed and the pressure is off my inner ear. I am getting away with a short course of steroids, a return visit and another hearing test. And I'm cleared to dive now, as long as I can equalize easily.
I just wanted to share this with others so that maybe some of you can avoid the problem I had - or even worse. I know that I spent a few anxious minutes wondering what I would do if his prognosis was "You need to stop diving" or "Your hearing is damaged for good." While not life-threatening, it's still scary stuff.
