Barotrauma ear

[Maria25]

Hey all,
I have read all the previous threads, went to the doc, I am on mega doses of prednisone taper and eating everything in sight and am either manic or an absolute witch but I do have a few questions:
1. I threaded earlier about byouancy during my pool swims. I tackled it on the last day and felt pretty good about it. Then had my first OW in salt water and neoprene. Started all over....thought I got it by the end but that was after many ups and downs. So if I write two dives that day in my dive book is it really 20 counting my ascents and descents due to my poor relationship with my inflator/deflator?
2. Day 2 down to 60 feet. Hard work this diving , lots of task loading, that whole murkey water compass thing...I LOVE IT don't get me wrong.
3. Ears plugged/muffled but no problems really until the next day and oh my!
4. Not so much ear pain but the worse headache of my life. Eardrums were full of blood but no rupture. Now I can not hear at all out of my right ear, marginally out of my left.And besides the darn engine that I can only hear I seem to be ok except for this dang horrible headache.I mean horrible. Just tonight I can get a thought out.
5. Doc says 'maybe scuba is not my sport' I say maybe he is not my best docteur.He says no diving for 6 weeks...
6. So this long involved posted is really about: I never felt a squeeze, yes I cleared a lot but no pain in my descents or reverse squeezes in my ascents. Was it the first days dives that did it since we were mostly at 20 and 30 feet? Am I really out for 6 weeks? Will this happen again and again? To be honest I am a bit frustrated with this lack of byouancy control.
Thanks so much for your ear and your advice.
Maria

 

[renpirate]

Well you could get a second opinion, but sitting out for a few weeks is a good idea. The fluid needs time to drain and the antibotics will keep it from getting infected. You should always be very careful where your ears are concerned. They will heal, but it would be a shame to make the damage worse.

 

[TSandM]

My guess is that you were so overloaded that you didn't feel your ears needing to be cleared until they needed it badly, and you ended up with some barotrauma.

It may indeed take a couple of weeks for the fluid to resolve. Six seems awfully conservative to me, but I'd get the ears checked before going back in the water.

My guess about your headache is that it's probably sinus barotrauma, from the same source, although I obviously can't diagnose a headache over the internet.

Poor buoyancy control is unfortunately common in new divers -- I know mine was awful. If you get a chance to spend some more time in the pool, try to work hard on hovering quietly at any depth you choose. You can do the same thing in open water, but it's just more challenging when the visibility is poor.

I don't think anybody can say that scuba is "not your sport", based on some barotrauma from your certification dives.