Bubbles coming from ear and injury

[divingsurfari]

You probably have a tiny rupture that filled the middle ear with sea water while you were diving. The water pressure at depth for 45 min forcing water into the middle ear is stronger than the bodys' pressure to force the water out at the surface. The ear drum then healed over trapping the remaining water and sea life turning the middle ear into a mini aquarium filled with all kinds of microbial flora and fauna. The antibiotics would have taken care of this, but by now they probably have spread throughout your brain judging from your post. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Yes, that seems logical although it feels like you're scaremongering a bit. The Dr. himself said the infection was only minor. Still, perhaps I should take the course of antibiotics.

Also, now that I think about it, I have been feeling more tired than usual of late, which I put down to the cold weather but a minor infection would certainly explain it.

 

[divingsurfari]

OK, I'm taking Clarithromycin, which should hopefully clear up the infection.

Let's hope there's nothing else growing inside my skull!

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Seeing this a little late, but bubbles from the ear means a perforated eardrum. If it was a small perf it probably healed quickly, which could explain why the people who looked in your ear didn't see it. Best practice is moving away from automatically throwing antibiotics at an ear infection so if a doc prescribes you antibiotics for that, it is definitely in your best interest to take them.

Oh, and if this doesn't resolve, go see an ENT

Best regards,
DDM

 

[divingsurfari]

Hi again. I finished the antibiotics and they seemed to have a beneficial effect. I noticed prior to taking them that I was feeling more tired than usual which perhaps points to a minor infection I had.

Anyway, the other day I got some water in the ear and noticed a certain amount of pain, which is very similar to the original symptoms I had. I noticed a small amount of ringing in the ears and disorientation at the same time before the pain subsided. So, whatever the problem, it doesn't appear to have healed. I'm seeing an ENT specialist soon.

I don't seem to have any other symptoms affecting me thankfully but let's see what the specialist says. Cheers.

 

[glassbottom]

I personally tend to get water trapped in my ears post dive.

However immediately using a little of this gets the water out and im back in business. Dont have problems with infections. I carry a bottle in my dry bag, as well as in my truck and at home, so i never spend more than a small amount of time with water trapped.

CVS Health Ear Drops for Swimmers, 1 OZ - CVS.com

 

[stillswimmingincircles]

You may be sent to do some vestibular testing, and have an audiologist test your hearing as well. Your vestibular system and hearing is nothing to take lightly.

 

[divingsurfari]

I finally saw the ENT specialist. He looked inside the ear and said he could see a little scarring. I had a hearing test but there was no weakness detected. I'm going to have a Tympanometry test, which should give a better indication of the problem.

I had a bath recently and submerged my head under water for a few seconds and so water went into the ear, which caused pain similar to just after the dive. So, something is definitely not right.

 

[Steelyeyes]

The last time I perforated an ear drum the ENT did the Tympanometry test. I saw him ten days post injury and the membrane was already healed enough to show a pressure differential. Good luck with yours.

 

[divingsurfari]

Finally had my tympanometric test. I think the machine blows air into the ear and reads the feedback. The machine couldn't get a reading on my affected left ear which could indicate the air is blowing through the hole in my ear? The Dr. said there was a tiny hole which should heal up by itself. He didn't seem concerned but wanted a check up for 6 months time.

I had the ear injury back in November. I'm told these injuries should heal up faster. One issue may be that just after the injury I wasn't careful about avoiding water getting water into the ear during showering, which could have affected the healing process. I also sleep with foam ear plugs, which I have to compress to put in the ear whereafter the foam expands. This is probably not the best for the affected ear.

A couple of weeks ago, during a stressful week, I noticed the pain in the ear flaring up quite a lot which was a bit worrying as that had not happened previously. It affected the area shown in the attached picture. I mentioned this to one Dr. and he seemed to think it was the nerve endings near the site of the perforation. Since then the ear has calmed down though.



I'm still not convinced all is OK. All I can do is ensure water doesn't get into the ear.

 

[doctormike]

Late to the party, but here are a few take home points. Here's my sticky on ear stuff.

1) Bubbles from the ear while diving means a perforated eardrum.

2) No diving with a perforated eardrum. It may heal spontaneously (depending on what caused it), it may require surgery to close, or it may be a sign of a larger problem (like cholesteatoma). All of this should only be managed by an ENT doctor. Generally the perforation can be seen with a regular otoscope, sometimes you need a microscope, and sometimes it will only show up on the tympanogram.

3) It is extremely unusual for an adult to get an acute otitis media (middle ear infection, also known as an "ear infection"). However, people often confuse an outer ear infection ("swimmer's ear") with a middle ear infection. They are two different things that have nothing to do with each other (see the sticky). Swimmer's ear is incredibly common in divers (treated with cleaning and ear drops), acute otitis media is very rare (treated sometimes with oral antibiotics).

4) Acute otitis media requiring antibiotics looks like the eardrum is bulging with yellow pus. I tell my residents that if they hear an ear described as "a little red" by another doctor, that usually means nothing.

5) Pain during an ear exam means either an outer ear infection or someone without a lot of experience looking in ears (most primary care docs don't do much ear stuff unless they are pediatricians). It does not mean a middle ear infection.