BurBunny
Contributor
Was diving off the Nekton Rorqual last week. As is my normal procedure, I took a 12-hour Sudafed each morning, which normally gives me at least 24 hours of effect. In addition, each post dive I use SwimEar to dry the passages.
On Tuesday, we dove Theo's Wreck (110 fsw at the sand). I had a bit of trouble clearing my right ear on the way down, which is highly unusual for me. However, nothing but a bit of light blowing against a pinched nose was needed to continue descent.
Wednesday morning, I awakened with a classic upper respiratory cold; low grade fever, aches, sneezing, nasal congestion, moving into mild chest congestion. (Learned later several of the crew also developed these symptoms at the same time.) Goes without saying I did no diving this day, or the morning of the next. On Thursday afternoon, I felt the congestion was clearing, so attempted a 50' dive. During the very slow descent (head up and down the line to the hang bar) had to force clear at about 10', and had mild pressure in my right ear throughout the dive, but far less than a painful squeeze. When I used SwimEar post dive, I experienced a strong burning sensation in both ears, but most significantly in the right.
Upon my return to the surface, and persisting in the week since, that right ear has been noticably clogged. The remaining upper respiratory cold has almost resolved, but I'm still feeling pressure, congestion, and occasional flashes of mild pain like a sqeeze, along with slight hearing impairment. The only time the congestion eased was during and immediately following my flight from Florida to Colorado (I live at 5,700' elevation), but it almost immediately returned after I landed within a period of a couple hours.
I have tried gently clearing using all usual methods, and while my left ear has no remaining congestion, I can't even get the "crackles" in my right.
Should I continue to wait for this to resolve itself before I seek examination by my ENT? I have discontinued the Sudafed upon my return, as there was no other reason, and wanted to make sure the symptoms weren't due to any rebounding (although I don't tend to suffer from that with Sudafed).
Amber
On Tuesday, we dove Theo's Wreck (110 fsw at the sand). I had a bit of trouble clearing my right ear on the way down, which is highly unusual for me. However, nothing but a bit of light blowing against a pinched nose was needed to continue descent.
Wednesday morning, I awakened with a classic upper respiratory cold; low grade fever, aches, sneezing, nasal congestion, moving into mild chest congestion. (Learned later several of the crew also developed these symptoms at the same time.) Goes without saying I did no diving this day, or the morning of the next. On Thursday afternoon, I felt the congestion was clearing, so attempted a 50' dive. During the very slow descent (head up and down the line to the hang bar) had to force clear at about 10', and had mild pressure in my right ear throughout the dive, but far less than a painful squeeze. When I used SwimEar post dive, I experienced a strong burning sensation in both ears, but most significantly in the right.
Upon my return to the surface, and persisting in the week since, that right ear has been noticably clogged. The remaining upper respiratory cold has almost resolved, but I'm still feeling pressure, congestion, and occasional flashes of mild pain like a sqeeze, along with slight hearing impairment. The only time the congestion eased was during and immediately following my flight from Florida to Colorado (I live at 5,700' elevation), but it almost immediately returned after I landed within a period of a couple hours.
I have tried gently clearing using all usual methods, and while my left ear has no remaining congestion, I can't even get the "crackles" in my right.
Should I continue to wait for this to resolve itself before I seek examination by my ENT? I have discontinued the Sudafed upon my return, as there was no other reason, and wanted to make sure the symptoms weren't due to any rebounding (although I don't tend to suffer from that with Sudafed).
Amber
