Diving after Tympanoplasty

[helen67]

That is great news that it was successful and you're still diving! I am scheduled with Dr. McKenna at Mass Eye and Ear to have tympanoplasty (replacing the entire ear drum) on July 10th. I have to admit, I'm very scared as I don't want to not dive again. I saw Dr. Poe's research and considered seeing him but then thought that Dr. McKenna is also a very good surgeon. Should I do a consult with Dr. Poe? Is he in the same building on Charles Street, Boston? How long was your recovery? I do have eustachian tube dysfunction but Dr. McKenna doesn't seem too concerned over it. He said my problem was the number of ear infections and tubes that weakened my eardrum. Thanks for posting and hope you don't mind all the questions

 

[Jennylinn711]

Of course! Well, getting in to see Dr. Poe is a bit of a process. He is the only surgeon that does the eustatian tube balloon dilation procedure in the area (which I thought I needed but he said my tubes were just fine). So you have to submit comprehensive medical history docs into his office for them to evaluate your case and determine if you need to see Dr. Poe or one of his (very qualified) colleagues. He actually practices and boston children's hospital, he sees mostly kids so that's why it's hard to get in to see him.

I had three sets of tubes in my ears also when I was a kid - Dr. Poe said my eardrums were just super thin which is why they kept getting little tiny holes in them during the diving season, he just put a graft of cartlige over the eardrum to reinforce it (which is I'm guessing what you're also getting?) Another thing, Dr. Poe recommended I get allergy testing to get my large amount of mucus due to allergies under control which was contributing to my eustation tubes not performing great - I saw Dr. Johnson Wong who was awesome and veryy helpful. OH and the recovery time will be about 6-8 weeks I'm hoping to get back to diving this summer! Hope this helps

 

[helen67]

Of course! Well, getting in to see Dr. Poe is a bit of a process. He is the only surgeon that does the eustatian tube balloon dilation procedure in the area (which I thought I needed but he said my tubes were just fine). So you have to submit comprehensive medical history docs into his office for them to evaluate your case and determine if you need to see Dr. Poe or one of his (very qualified) colleagues. He actually practices and boston children's hospital, he sees mostly kids so that's why it's hard to get in to see him.

I had three sets of tubes in my ears also when I was a kid - Dr. Poe said my eardrums were just super thin which is why they kept getting little tiny holes in them during the diving season, he just put a graft of cartlige over the eardrum to reinforce it (which is I'm guessing what you're also getting?) Another thing, Dr. Poe recommended I get allergy testing to get my large amount of mucus due to allergies under control which was contributing to my eustation tubes not performing great - I saw Dr. Johnson Wong who was awesome and veryy helpful. OH and the recovery time will be about 6-8 weeks I'm hoping to get back to diving this summer! Hope this helps

Thanks for the information! How many days out of work should I plan on? I work from home so I was hoping to return the next day or a few days afterward. Just curious, was your eardrum not too bad? Dr. McKenna is actually replacing mine with a totally new eardrum taking tissue from around my ear and a skin graft. I just sent in a request to see Dr. Poe to at least get a second opinion and maybe switch over to him. Did he do any pre-op testing other than a hearing test? Again, thanks for all the information!

 

[helen67]

UPDATE: I had the surgery on October 18th with Dr. Corrales at Brigham Women’s in Boston and it was a resounding success. The surgery went well and I was driving that evening, had no pain or anything. Actually I felt great. At the one week follow up, the Dr and he auctioned the dry blood and everything looked great. Next follow up he said I was healing perfectly. I did skip swimming and snorkeling during our November trip to Mexico. I then saw him before and after my 4 week dive trip. After doing 53 dives and the last week I was on vacation, I was diving every day. The eardrum was unaffected and per my Dr. is as strong as a natural eardrum. Equalizing was easy but I remained very cautious to be safe. We did not do anything with the eustachian tube as mine are a bit unique so we held off on it. Odd thing is the new eardrum and my weird eustachian tube doesn’t always require me to equalize as often because it remains open most times. Needless to say, I’m thrilled all went well and I’m forever grateful to Dr. Corrales. He’s a fabulous and very talented Dr. Dr Poe actually referred me to him because it was a 2-3 year wait to see Dr Poe. So many thanks to him for referring me and to the poster who recommended Dr Poe. About 75% of my eardrum needed reconstruction/reinforcing due to the numerous times I had tubes as a kid. Now it’s fixed and I’m so happy!

 

[ScubaMike777]

Hi all - came across this chat a few times and felt compelled to share my own personal story as I’ve wrestled with whether to have my ear drum fixed for several years.

I am not a doctor. Just sharing my positive story.

in short I had a small anterior ear drum perforation fixed Sept/2020 by way of a cartelidge plug surgery and my external ear canal widened. Has worked very well much to my surprise and have now done 25 dives without issue. So happy that it worked! My hearing also improved.

ive had several ear perforations in the same ear drum. Started in 2003. Mostly they healed on their own until the last which did not even after 2 years. Affected my hearing as the drum was not working so well.
Have been diving with the proear2000 mask since 2003 and can recommend it even though it’s a bit of a faff.

anyways, that’s my story. The surgery does work…..

 

[ScubaMike777]

Hi everyone,
I just returned from a 5 week dive trip and blew my ear 3 days before we were leaving. This is the 3rd time this has happened so I think its time to have the tympanoplasty surgery. The first time it ruptured I didn't know since I had no pain but felt bubbles coming out of my ear and continued to dive with no problems. The second time I did have severe pain coming down my jawbone. This time, just bubbles and no pain but I aborted the dive. Each time it ruptured, it was from just jumping in the water except this last one happened at 8 feet as I went to equalize. It's been 4 years since I've ruptured my eardrum, always been careful with my ears and equalizing BTW, it's always the same ear that ruptures and I did have tubes often as a kid so I think that has contributed to the issue. The other ear is fine, occasionally it gives me problems but I just go slow, wait it out or go up to get it to equalize until both ears are good.

So the ENT, a few years back, said he can do tympanoplasty and rebuild the eardrum with new tissue. So my question is, how successful is this type of surgery? I REALLY love diving and want to be sure I'm making the right choice in terms of how to resolve this issue.

How long would it take to heal? How long should I wait before diving again? Does anyone have any ENT recommendations in the Boston, MA area? I'll call DAN to ask as well but just want to get additional input.

My next trip is in November but I'll pass on diving but I want to be good to go for my annual February trip where we dive a lot during the 5 week vacation. If anyone has any experiences, suggestions or any information that would be useful, I'd appreciate your input. Thanks everyone

I’ve been through a similar issue and had surgery to fix my eardrum….pls see my prior post which I hope helps. Now about 100 dives since I had the surgery and the drum remains water tight

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Diving after Tympanoplasty