S0ckm0nk3y
Contributor
Aloha folks,
I'm having some blocked/clogged ear issues and I'm worried about what my ENT want to do to clear it up.
A week or so before Thanksgiving 2013 I had a minor cold. During that time my left ear become clogged and I couldn't clear it. I had not been diving for at least a couple months before the small cold (what dumbass I am for not diving more before leaving Hawaii). I experienced some hearing loss from that ear because of it was clogged. At the time I lived in Hawaii and I knew I was moving back to the east coast. The healthcare in Hawaii is so awful that I decided to wait until I got back to the mainland to take care of it. Nothing over the counter was helping.
Fast forward to mid December, more than a month later, I saw my PCP here in MA who gave me a referral for an ENT and some flonase.
Right before my ENT appointment I came down with a terrible sinus infection. Suddenly my whole head was clogged including my right ear. My ENT could see my eardrums bulging and with a tuning fork checked that I did have hearing loss in both ears. The ENT gave me steroids (pills) to take. Just as I was finishing the course of the steroids and the sinus infection was going away I was back to pre-sinus infection. This is where my right ear was fine and my left ear was clogged, but this time I could kinda clear my left ear a little bit with valsalva.
After a few days of better, but not great, hearing my cold came back twofold as my head began to drain. Both ears were clogged again.
The ENT had scheduled another appointment for a hearing test after my sinus infection subsided. The hearing test showed that I did have hearing loss in both ears but it was due to my two clogged ears not some underlying hearing problem. In fact if/when I can clear my ears a whole world of sound returns to me.
Now, as I'm writing this, my hearing is worse in my right ear but my left ear feels more clogged. My cold is gone and I can taste food and smell again.
I go back to the ENT on Friday where he may want to puncture my eardrum(s?) to drain my ear. I have a job where hearing is important to the safety of myself and others. If I can't hear I don't think I can continue working at my job safely. This ENT does not know anything about diving and assumed that if he did put a small hole in my eardrum it would easily heal so that I may dive again one day.
My question to everyone is... if this ENT pokes a hole in my eardrum to drain it... is there a great risk of this effecting my diving this spring?
And also... is there anything else I can do to clear my clogged ears?
I have no history of ear trouble at all until now at 42 years old. Under normal circumstances I can clear my ears using the frenzel maneuver both scuba and free diving.
Thanks much,
-Eric
I'm having some blocked/clogged ear issues and I'm worried about what my ENT want to do to clear it up.
A week or so before Thanksgiving 2013 I had a minor cold. During that time my left ear become clogged and I couldn't clear it. I had not been diving for at least a couple months before the small cold (what dumbass I am for not diving more before leaving Hawaii). I experienced some hearing loss from that ear because of it was clogged. At the time I lived in Hawaii and I knew I was moving back to the east coast. The healthcare in Hawaii is so awful that I decided to wait until I got back to the mainland to take care of it. Nothing over the counter was helping.
Fast forward to mid December, more than a month later, I saw my PCP here in MA who gave me a referral for an ENT and some flonase.
Right before my ENT appointment I came down with a terrible sinus infection. Suddenly my whole head was clogged including my right ear. My ENT could see my eardrums bulging and with a tuning fork checked that I did have hearing loss in both ears. The ENT gave me steroids (pills) to take. Just as I was finishing the course of the steroids and the sinus infection was going away I was back to pre-sinus infection. This is where my right ear was fine and my left ear was clogged, but this time I could kinda clear my left ear a little bit with valsalva.
After a few days of better, but not great, hearing my cold came back twofold as my head began to drain. Both ears were clogged again.
The ENT had scheduled another appointment for a hearing test after my sinus infection subsided. The hearing test showed that I did have hearing loss in both ears but it was due to my two clogged ears not some underlying hearing problem. In fact if/when I can clear my ears a whole world of sound returns to me.
Now, as I'm writing this, my hearing is worse in my right ear but my left ear feels more clogged. My cold is gone and I can taste food and smell again.
I go back to the ENT on Friday where he may want to puncture my eardrum(s?) to drain my ear. I have a job where hearing is important to the safety of myself and others. If I can't hear I don't think I can continue working at my job safely. This ENT does not know anything about diving and assumed that if he did put a small hole in my eardrum it would easily heal so that I may dive again one day.
My question to everyone is... if this ENT pokes a hole in my eardrum to drain it... is there a great risk of this effecting my diving this spring?
And also... is there anything else I can do to clear my clogged ears?
I have no history of ear trouble at all until now at 42 years old. Under normal circumstances I can clear my ears using the frenzel maneuver both scuba and free diving.
Thanks much,
-Eric
