Diving post acoustic neuroma surgery

[Spotted_Cow93]

Back in May 2017 I underwent surgery for a total removal of a 3cm acoustic neuroma. Not sure which surgical approach they used, but I lost all hearing and all vestibular function in my left ear.

Since then, I have dove 6 times to depths of 65 feet with no issues. I have been certified since 2008 with around 50 logged dives and have never had issues with equalizing my ears. I always dive conservatively and within my limits.

Based on research done, most doctors seem to suggest someone shouldn’t dive if they only have functioning vestibular ability on one side because should an inner ear barotrauma occur with vestibular damage, it would be severely disabling.

Is it safe to continue diving because the risk of a severe inner ear barotrauma is low, or is it not worth the risk? Do inner ear barotraumas ever occur even when divers do everything “correct”, or is it generally a result of someone not equalizing correctly?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Compressor]

Please contact DAN for advice about this issue. +1-919-684-2948
Our own expert @doctormike will chime in.

Do you have any symptoms? Vertigo, disequilibrium, tinnitus (ringing ears) and problems with balance?

Take care.

 

[Spotted_Cow93]

Please contact DAN for advice about this issue. +1-919-684-2948
Our own expert @doctormike will chime in.

Do you have any symptoms? Vertigo, disequilibrium, tinnitus (ringing ears) and problems with balance?

Take care.

The side my acoustic neuroma was on (left) has no hearing and no vestibular function. My right ear has full hearing. I have no long term disequilibrium or problems with balance. Put another way, I had one kidney removed and now I’m down to one fully functioning kidney.

I guess what I’m asking is whether the risk of an inner ear barotrauma is something I can mitigate through safe dive techniques to be effectively negligible, or if instead I’m playing Russian roulette with my one good “kidney” no matter how safely I dive.

 

[doctormike]

There is always some irreducible risk of permanent ear injury with scuba diving. Middle ear barotrauma (rarely permanent), inner ear barotrauma, perilymph fistula, inner ear DCS, etc... You can of course minimize those risks by diving conservatively, equalizing frequently, not pushing through a difficult descent, not diving with an upper respiratory tract infection, and so forth. But you can't eliminate the risk entirely.

So the issues that not that you are at greater risk because of your history, but that you only have one functioning ear. With no redundancy, i don't think that I would risk it.

There are some people for whom diving is such a huge part of their personal or professional lives that they might actually consider making that hard choice. And it is, of course, a personal decision.

I don't know how you feel about diving, but with only 50 dives, perhaps you are not one of those people. I can't really advise you one way or the other, of course, but in your situation, I wouldn't do it.

 

[Spotted_Cow93]

There is always some irreducible risk of permanent ear injury with scuba diving. Middle ear barotrauma (rarely permanent), inner ear barotrauma, perilymph fistula, inner ear DCS, etc... You can of course minimize those risks by diving conservatively, equalizing frequently, not pushing through a difficult descent, not diving with an upper respiratory tract infection, and so forth. But you can't eliminate the risk entirely.

So the issues that not that you are at greater risk because of your history, but that you only have one functioning ear. With no redundancy, i don't think that I would risk it.

There are some people for whom diving is such a huge part of their personal or professional lives that they might actually consider making that hard choice. And it is, of course, a personal decision.

I don't know how you feel about diving, but with only 50 dives, perhaps you are not one of those people. I can't really advise you one way or the other, of course, but in your situation, I wouldn't do it.

Thank you for the feedback and perspective. Scuba diving is something I really enjoy and it makes me really sad I’m in this position.

 

[Compressor]

Really a personal decision and so well put by @doctormike. Its all about risk/benefit analysis.

Are you a candidate for cochlear implant?

 

[doctormike]

Thank you for the feedback and perspective. Scuba diving is something I really enjoy and it makes me really sad I’m in this position.

Sure, and I hope that you don't take my comments the wrong way. I don't mean to be dismissive by saying that you "only" have 50 dives. I know how much diving means to me!

I just meant that there are some people for whom diving is their whole lives, and they would accept a small risk of total deafness if it meant that they could keep diving.

Sorry that you have to be in this situation!

Best,

Mike

 

[Spotted_Cow93]

Really a personal decision and so well put by @doctormike. Its all about risk/benefit analysis.

Are you a candidate for cochlear implant?

Unfortunately not. Think of it as a speaker. Hearing aids are turning up the microphone. Cochlear implant is plugging a new microphone in. Mine is that there are no wires left to hook up. Acoustic neuroma is the balance nerve growing extra benign sheath cells and to fix it they had to essentially destroy my hearing nerve.

 

[Spotted_Cow93]

Sure, and I hope that you don't take my comments the wrong way. I don't mean to be dismissive by saying that you "only" have 50 dives. I know how much diving means to me!

I just meant that there are some people for whom diving is their whole lives, and they would accept a small risk of total deafness if it meant that they could keep diving.

Sorry that you have to be in this situation!

Best,

Mike

Mike, not at all. I totally get your calculus on it. I work in a profession of risk/benefit analysis and I’m a very analytical guy. I appreciate your reasoning and judgment.

- Tom

 

[rsingler]

they would accept a small risk of total deafness

Hey, Mike, accepting that we are talking about folks with TWO functioning auditory and vestibular systems, is there any data on the actual incidence of ONE of those systems going down? I would guess it's pretty small. Is dive-induced deafness amenable to cochlear implants?

In other words, can we estimate the risk this diver will become completely deaf, with no subsequent recourse?

Just asking, because with a sample of one, I've dived conservatively for thirty years, and still have both my ears functioning well. I was a little surprised by your comment.