Barotrauma and Tinnitus- Should I stop diving?

[Keda]

I posted a few months back about my diving mishap. Quick background revist- I had problems equalizing, and after surfacing my left ear felt full and I had constant popping and clicking in my ears. After a week or so things seemed to improve however so I was optimistic. However after some loud noise exposure at a party I noticed ringing in my ears. I had no idea if it was due to the noise exposure or if it was there after the dive and I just didn't notice. The ENT I saw said my hearing test and tympanometry were good, and diagnosed me with middle ear barotrauma. I was just told to wait it out.

Five months later and I'm very depressed. The clicking is still present in my left ear, once I move my jaw I get the clicking sound. Though it is softer than it was initially, it's already been five months, and of course the tinnitus is still present. Because of the time span I feel I have done significant damage and wonder if it's best to quit.Though I had read posts where persons with tinnitus have continued to dive I am very confused as to what to do. I am a new diver and aspiring marine biologist and dive master so the thought is very depressing thinking I ruined my prospects so early on. I would appreciate hearing from anyone else, professional or otherwise, that has experience something similar and what they did in terms on moving forward,

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi Keda, sorry to hear about this. It looks like the tinnitus is in both ears and did not appear until after the party, did I read that correctly? How many days elapsed between the dive and the party? Did you notice any vertigo (spinning sensation), tinnitus, or hearing loss after the dive but before the party?

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Addicted2H2O]

I'm certainly no ENT or even a doctor for that matter and I'm certain @Duke Dive Medicine can answer your questions, but I have "clicking" in my ears when I move my jaw a certain, which to me sounds basically like it's opening my eustacian tube similar to when I equalize. Almost like a small bubble pops in my ears. And I occasionally get tinnitus in my ears too and experience a ringing, but it usually goes away after a few minutes. I've been diving for nearly 5 years and am currently a Dive Master trainee and I've never experienced any ill effects during/after a dive from these conditions. Strictly from a non-medical standpoint my advice would be this: Try diving and if you don't have any trouble equalizing and don't notice any pain during or after the dive and don't notice any noticeable hearing loss, then you're probably okay. Certainly talk this over with your ENT and see what they recommend, but unless you're experiencing pain and/or hearing loss, I don't see any reason not to try again.

 

[icechip]

I had somewhat the same thing to me this summer (shared it when the OP first mentioned their situation) and now five months later still have the clicking/popping in the left when I do a farmer's blow (but not to the extent of what I had this summer). It just seems that the eustacion tube gets stuck or gums up more so or more easily so since the barotrauma. And yes I have tinnitus, but have had it for years even before diving so don't even consider that part of what is going on with my ears. Bottom line for my diving is that my ears clear, I've experienced no pain diving or afterwards and have about a dozen dives since...so I am cautiously optimistic.

 

[agilis]

I dived with serious tinnitus for about a decade. My tinnitus developed from early life noise exposure and was worsened by the upper level hearing loss that comes with advancing age. Diving had no effect on the tinnitus, and this experience seems to be true for others on this board. Through the painstaking application of mindfulness and the use of ear noise maskers when the demon was especially bad my Tinnitus eventually receded to the point that it is virtually gone now. When it was at its worst it was very depressing. Tinnitus is a dreadful condition, but it can be managed and it can be overcome.

 

[Keda]

Hi Keda, sorry to hear about this. It looks like the tinnitus is in both ears and did not appear until after the party, did I read that correctly? How many days elapsed between the dive and the party? Did you notice any vertigo (spinning sensation), tinnitus, or hearing loss after the dive but before the party?

Best regards,
DDM

Yes you are correct. After the dive all I noticed was the feeling of fullness in the left ear and of course the pops and clicks in both. My hearing seemed fine; I don't recall having any difficulty hearing at all. I went to a loud restaurant followed my a party exactly one week after the dive, and after experienced no noticeable problems. The particular party I referenced was 2 weeks after the dive. After the party my left ear felt full again and I felt as though I couldn't hear my friend properly. I honestly only noticed the ringing after I put my fingers in my ears to see if it was indeed a symptom I was experiencing and then in morning when my head was against the pillow I could hear it.

 

[Keda]

I dived with serious tinnitus for about a decade. My tinnitus developed from early life noise exposure and was worsened by the upper level hearing loss that comes with advancing age. Diving had no effect on the tinnitus, and this experience seems to be true for others on this board. Through the painstaking application of mindfulness and the use of ear noise maskers when the demon was especially bad my Tinnitus eventually receded to the point that it is virtually gone now. When it was at its worst it was very depressing. Tinnitus is a dreadful condition, but it can be managed and it can be overcome.

Thank-you so much for this reply. It really is depressing, especially the thought of it becoming worse, but responses like this truly do give me hope and encouragement to continue training and become a better diver.

 

[Keda]

I had somewhat the same thing to me this summer (shared it when the OP first mentioned their situation) and now five months later still have the clicking/popping in the left when I do a farmer's blow (but not to the extent of what I had this summer). It just seems that the eustacion tube gets stuck or gums up more so or more easily so since the barotrauma. And yes I have tinnitus, but have had it for years even before diving so don't even consider that part of what is going on with my ears. Bottom line for my diving is that my ears clear, I've experienced no pain diving or afterwards and have about a dozen dives since...so I am cautiously optimistic.

Hi there, yes I remember your reply from my initial post sometime back. It's great to hear that you haven't had problems since! I plan on seeking a second ENT opinion just to make sure before I give it a go again. I think if I'm able to complete a dive or two with no issues I'll be able to cope.

 

[JohnnyC]

I work in live entertainment, suffice it to say my hearing is not the best. Please do not construe this as medical advice, but many of my aurally challenged friends (tinnitus and otherwise) continue to dive without issue.

More concerning is the clicking/popping. I had a barotrauma at the end of a 6 hour rebreather cave dive down in Mexico. Some uppey downey cave and a brief lack of concentration gave me clicking and popping even in-water. I went to the doc down the street and while he said I had some middle ear barotrauma, I had not done any severe damage. Fortunately it went away within a few weeks.

The fact that 5 months later you still have issues says, to me anyway, get a second opinion. Docs are not infallible. I had a Costa Rican orthopedic surgeon want to slice me open because of an MCL tear and two meniscus tears. The US doc took one look at the MRI and said "no way, I see what he saw, but none of those are tears, you're just gonna be gimpy for a couple months while you rehab, sans Dexter treatment." (PS, the ONE GUY that runs the MRI machine at the hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica is apparently the kwisatz haderach of magnetic resonance. The US doc said most of their MRI's don't come out nearly as good from their techs)

Anyway, sorry to hear you're still having problems. I hope the second ENT doc gets you the help you need. It would be a shame to give up now!

 

[ibj40]

I dived with serious tinnitus for about a decade. My tinnitus developed from early life noise exposure and was worsened by the upper level hearing loss that comes with advancing age. Diving had no effect on the tinnitus, and this experience seems to be true for others on this board. Through the painstaking application of mindfulness and the use of ear noise maskers when the demon was especially bad my Tinnitus eventually receded to the point that it is virtually gone now. When it was at its worst it was very depressing. Tinnitus is a dreadful condition, but it can be managed and it can be overcome.

I have similar set of circumstances, however have had trouble tying my tinnitus back to any one specific event or set of events. I did race cars, off and on, for close to 25 years, but the tinnitus is in my right ear (the one that was away from the noise of the open exhausts). The condition is just something I have learned to accommodate, and have not let it alter my lifestyle.

For the OP, my advise is to go forward with your plans. We all have to deal with little medical, physical, emotional, psychological issues in our life, some of them we can overlook, some of them we have to overcome, and then there are others that might just represent a little bit more of a challenge.

It's the Lemons/Lemonade analogy.

Hang in there!