Blood In My Ears And Vertigo

[De Scuba]

I hope someone can help me on this.. Went diving for my checkout dives in a quarry . i had a head cold when i went and even told my instructor this. He said take sudafed and you will be ok .so i did .Got in the water and had a very hard time getting down to the platform at 25 feet .Got down there several minutes of trying to equilize. Well it was ok intill my we went down to around 50 feet and everything went very quiet in my head .I didnt think anything was wrong at this point until i started my slow asent and when i got to about 35 feet i got severe vertigo i didnt know wich way was up it was terrible everthing was spining.. Luckily my instructor saw me how he did in 5 to 10 foot viz i will never know .He brought me to the surface and stood me up and i still was spinning then i started getting sick everwhere.. I got out and after about 30 minutes felt ok .I can home and went to an ent doctor and he tells me that the vetigo was because i tore the membrain between the inner and outer ear.. He put me on meds for a week and told me to come back to him in 3 weeks and this would be enough time for the bllod built up in my ear drums to go down .Well its been almost 3 weeks and my ears are still stopped up soild..can anyone tell me why this happened and is this doc on the right track and will i be able to dive again > To be honest im alittle gun shy now ..Thank you for your time Mark

 

[seadoggirl]

Call DAN - Divers Alert Network. Those guys are great and they know dive medicine.

 

[Scubakevdm]

It probably happened because you didn't equalize your ears. I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but if I had to bet a paycheck I'd say the doc was right.

 

[HowardE]

I think you should go back to the doctor

 

[fdog]

Vertigo is common after rupturing your eardrum in cold water.

Still having issues after your ENT said it would be cleared up? Go back.


All the best, James

 

[TSandM]

If the ENT doc said you ruptured the membrane between the INNER and middle ears, that's not the eardrum. That's a round or oval window rupture, and is much more serious barotrauma. It is a good thing that you have a follow-up appointment with him. This injury needs to be monitored, and he will be able to give you much better information about when and if you can return to diving than any of us can over the net.

This was a combination of questionable advice from your instructor and your inexperience. Diving doesn't have to cause ear trauma, but new divers often don't know how to equalize properly and often enough. Not diving with a cold is a good general practice, and is certainly a good idea for a novice diver.

 

[mamashark]

My instructor told me that I shouldn't take ANY meds, that if I were sick, I shouldn't be in the water. :shakehead Sorry to hear about your ear.

 

[shakeybrainsurgeon]

If I recall the info in the PADI OW DVD correctly, the standard recommendation is NOT to dive with Sudafed because a) it might not work and b) it might work for a while, then wear off underwater leading to serious block issues. I second the opinion that you got bad advice.:no People with head colds should put the dive off for another day. You have a year to do the checkout dives.

 

[De Scuba]

Thank alot guys for the response and the video was great .I learned alot ..More classes for me for sure .Thanks again Mark

 

[pupdiver]

I am also a little stunned that your instructor told you to take sudafed and go diving anyway. Instructors I know would always say when in doubt, don't dive. You could always finish your certification later. I realize this doesn't help you now, but I hope your instructor got a wake up call.

You definitely need to see your doctor again if you he said you shjould be alright by now.

I think you are understandably gun shy. I would be too if that happened to me. As long as your ears are OK you shouldn't give up on diving if it is something you want to pursue. You should make sure you get the OK from your Doc before you go again though. Also, make sure you tell any instructors you have in the future what happened to you.