Congestion after a big dive trip?

[ScubaKat_CO]

Hello,

I'm a newer diver who just took her first week long trip (I logged 18 dives). I've been home for 2 days and am extremely congested - ears and sinus. I noticed during the trip that my ears seemed to get increasingly tired as the week went on and I had to clear more throughout my dives.

I am NOT looking for medical advice (so please don't tell me to call DAN). I just am curious from you experienced folk if this is just par for the course after a longer trip - like ears and sinuses retaliating on you for the work you made them do?

Otherwise it's obvious I picked up a bug along the way. Thanks in advance!

 

[Perryed]

I`ve had it happen and been plugged up for a week or so after trips and at the same time have never had any problems after a trip. The latter happens MUCH more often. Never has it been the result of illness, just severe ear abuse!

 

[BoltSnap]

Check with your ENT ASAP. It maybe nothing and it may develop into an ear infection or worse. I have learned through the years that if I have any type of ear ache/pain, I schedule an appointment with my ENT and not wait t the point where it develops into something more serious (or it may not but I won't take the chance. I do NOT want to end up with a "wick" stuck in my ear for a week. I have tried it and it was hell).

You may have overdone it with equalizing or perhaps you didn't equalize correctly or not frequently enough. It can also be the beginning of an infection. ONLY a medical specialist will be able to tell for sure.

 

[outofofficebrb]

Hi, @ScubaKat_CO. I do a lot of big dive trips twice a year where I do a lot of repetitive diving. I have gotten a sore ear once after a dive, but nothing a little alcohol/glycerin in the ear didn't fix. Outside of that, my longest repetitive session has been 56 and a total of 84 done on a long trip. I have not had any congestion like you speak of unless I caught a virus and have a slight cold. My ears and sinuses have not gotten upset.

I agree with @BurhanMuntasser; if in doubt, I would at the very least call the ENT and ask to speak with the nurse. Explain what is going on and see if they recommend an appointment. Most doctors don't truly understand the implications or procedures of diving, so if you aren't happy with what the nurse has to say or if you think they are not being conservative or concerning enough, I would also call DAN to see if this is something that they think is concerning, or if they have heard of other divers reporting this before, and what steps they recommend if so.

I did have a friend who supposedly caught a virus in their ear from dirty water and it turned into an ear infection. He also got pneumonia and claims it was all from the dirty water that started in his ear.

Hopefully, it's just a virus (cold?) and a simple fix, and nothing serious or long term.

 

[Ministryofgiraffes]

totally par for the course with me. you are basically spending 5 days flushing your ears and sinuses with tiny corpses and feculence.... if it didn't improve after 72 hours of being back i might go to the doctor..

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

corpses and feculence. Yup, that pretty sums up my life.

 

[fmerkel]

Everyone's ears and sinuses are different. From my perspective you got off lightly. By day 3 of my first dive vacation I was having reverse block, trashed ears and sinuses, and bloody discharge. I missed a bunch of dives on a 10 day vacation. The plane trip home was misery in spite of Afrin and Sudafed.

So, you have YOUR experience. You will get other people's experience here. Some people can clear as easily as breathing. Some struggle and find a way. A few never have the ability in spite of lots of effort. That's their experience, not yours. What you need to do going forward is figure out how MUCH of your problem is technique, and how much is biology. My suspicion since this is your first posting and first dive trip is BOTH. You absolutely need to improve your clearing technique. Waiting 6-12 months and then hammering ears and sinuses again is not going to do it. I doubt there is much diving in Louisville to practice. Recovering and ignoring the problem until the next vacation is going to leave you in the same fix.

What to do?
Learn to pay attention to your head space clearing (ears and sinuses) and using clearing techniques to stay well ahead of the trauma late clearing can create. There are LOTS of resources on how to clear properly. Google them, understand them. practice them. Practice is critical.

You may need medical 'support', I did and have ever since that first trip, 25 years later. I did see and ENT. Divers Alert Network has lots of articles on medication use in diving, as does this forum. Do some reading. Get to know your way around the medications that can help. Most of them are not prescription. They can make a world of difference.

If you aren't comfortable with sorting this our yourself with on line resources, do see and ENT and discuss it. Absolutely see an ENT if the problem gets worse instead of resolving. Likely it will, but unless you DO something about it you WILL end up in the same fix next time.

 

[MMM]

I have really narrow eustachion tubes and if I equalize too hard, too often, I hurt them. I can do loads of dives over a long period and then suddenly, bingo, I have a problem a day or two after diving. Invariably this results in a trip to the dive doc, some meds prescribed, and a month out of the water.

 

[al248005]

Usually on trips I have one day where my sinuses hate me then when I get home I usually end up with an ear infection and sinus infection in the following week or 2

 

[Charles Graves]

They sell antibiotics on the cheap in Mexico, without a prescription, and It’s legal to take a bunch home.

thets what I did when me and my wife were cave diving. So if I feel a sinus infection come on, I just take them and clear out my ears with ear drops and use nasacort 2x daily and Tylenol SEVERE cold/flu tablets a couple times a day, and I’m good to go and I beat the infection off before it really starts

But infections are common

if it’s really bad and you have trouble equalizing you may need sinus surgery to fix a deviated septum, polyps, turbinate reduction, sinus enlargement, AND/OR Eustachian tube enlargement. Good luck!