Throwaway2016
New
Two days ago I failed to properly equalize my ears while snorkeling, and a few minutes after getting out of the water my left ear started ringing. There was no pain or sensation of fullness, maybe some numbness of the ear lobe. I only did a few dives and the deepest dive was only to 8mfw but all along my left ear felt suspiciously easy to equalize, there was no discomfort at all. On the other hand, a few weeks earlier on a scuba dive I had equalized like a boss, so I thought that maybe my right ear was the problem after all, getting it to equalize took some trying. I did not specifically let water inside my hood because the water was so cold, but I don't think this was contributing factor.
By that evening I was quite worried since the distracting sound had not stopped and by the next morning it had not even noticeably gone down in volume. Today I had an appointment with an ear doctor, and the doctor discovered irritation and a small amount of blood of behind the ear drum. An audiogram showed a "depression towards" (?) 6000Hz, 45dB, consistent with barotrauma. I received a prescription of betahistin (improves circulation) and cortisone (which to my surprise is a category of steroids). The doctor believed there was no fluid trapped under pressure, but said that the cortisone will open up the tubes anyway.
Several years earlier, I had had a fairly bad ear infection (unrelated to diving) , which I recall was worse in the bad ear, and earlier than that on a scuba dive the same ear had suffered minor reverse blockage that did not clear until the drive home, and it did so with a loud pop. Other than that I'm not sure if there's much of a difference in behaviour, the bad ear might be slightly more difficult to equalize.
Three factors contributed to the incident:
1) I was careless because I was "only" freediving: in the absence of jellyfish, sharks and boat traffic, the only real risk is drowning. But equalization techniques do in fact differ, and equalization must be taken seriously. The dive was actually my deepest on breathhold!
2) I had always thought that there would be a clear warning before ear-related damage occurred: first there would be moderate pain, then severe pain and only then would something break. That is, I believed that the dangereous area begins only after some pain is already being experienced. But apparently the level of risk increases much more rapidly.
3) My second false belief was that even in the worst case, the damage would be limited to a burst ear drum, likely causing vertigo and probably an infection. While freediving, catastrophic vertigo can be overcome by dropping the weight belt and ear infections can be cured. Had I known that eternal loud ringing was even a possibility, I would have been much more cautious! Tinnitus is a horrible condition, and although the one I'm suffering from is fairly mild and less noticeable already, only 48 hours after the incident, and even though the doctor was quite relaxed about it and said that conditions like this are usually transient, I remain worried.
I'm due for another audiogram in a month, and I certainly hope the ailment will go away completely well before then. The doctor also saw no reason why the issue would reoccur or that it would reoccur in a worse form, even mentioning how the prescriptions can be refreshed easily. But will this have an effect on what kind of diving I can do? Should I get my ears inspected by a specialist? I really like scuba diving and it is one of the extremely few topics on which I display athletic ability and physical courage above that of the general population. Although it does not take up much of my time, it is pretty much the only activity that reliably gets me out of the house and socializing with people.
If I were to ever suffer debilitating tinnitus, I would be liable to self-medicate with a 9mm hollowpoint, I can't imagine living the iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii life for very long.
By that evening I was quite worried since the distracting sound had not stopped and by the next morning it had not even noticeably gone down in volume. Today I had an appointment with an ear doctor, and the doctor discovered irritation and a small amount of blood of behind the ear drum. An audiogram showed a "depression towards" (?) 6000Hz, 45dB, consistent with barotrauma. I received a prescription of betahistin (improves circulation) and cortisone (which to my surprise is a category of steroids). The doctor believed there was no fluid trapped under pressure, but said that the cortisone will open up the tubes anyway.
Several years earlier, I had had a fairly bad ear infection (unrelated to diving) , which I recall was worse in the bad ear, and earlier than that on a scuba dive the same ear had suffered minor reverse blockage that did not clear until the drive home, and it did so with a loud pop. Other than that I'm not sure if there's much of a difference in behaviour, the bad ear might be slightly more difficult to equalize.
Three factors contributed to the incident:
1) I was careless because I was "only" freediving: in the absence of jellyfish, sharks and boat traffic, the only real risk is drowning. But equalization techniques do in fact differ, and equalization must be taken seriously. The dive was actually my deepest on breathhold!
2) I had always thought that there would be a clear warning before ear-related damage occurred: first there would be moderate pain, then severe pain and only then would something break. That is, I believed that the dangereous area begins only after some pain is already being experienced. But apparently the level of risk increases much more rapidly.
3) My second false belief was that even in the worst case, the damage would be limited to a burst ear drum, likely causing vertigo and probably an infection. While freediving, catastrophic vertigo can be overcome by dropping the weight belt and ear infections can be cured. Had I known that eternal loud ringing was even a possibility, I would have been much more cautious! Tinnitus is a horrible condition, and although the one I'm suffering from is fairly mild and less noticeable already, only 48 hours after the incident, and even though the doctor was quite relaxed about it and said that conditions like this are usually transient, I remain worried.
I'm due for another audiogram in a month, and I certainly hope the ailment will go away completely well before then. The doctor also saw no reason why the issue would reoccur or that it would reoccur in a worse form, even mentioning how the prescriptions can be refreshed easily. But will this have an effect on what kind of diving I can do? Should I get my ears inspected by a specialist? I really like scuba diving and it is one of the extremely few topics on which I display athletic ability and physical courage above that of the general population. Although it does not take up much of my time, it is pretty much the only activity that reliably gets me out of the house and socializing with people.
If I were to ever suffer debilitating tinnitus, I would be liable to self-medicate with a 9mm hollowpoint, I can't imagine living the iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii life for very long.
