Diving with ear tubes?

[Sean326]

I have been an avid diver since my teens, My son who is 13 has been waiting for 10 years to get certified (I know he could have gotten certified at 10 but my wife overruled PADI).

Now 1 week before he is scheduled to start his class the doctor has said he has to get tubes put in his ears to help with chronic ear infections......

I know there are full face masks, and even a dry ear mask
on leisure pro

my questions are:

Can a special mask keep his ears dry ?

Can a kid with ear tubes dive at all ?
(I understand they dissolve and fall out after a year or so)

I have a feeling if I ask the non diving doctors they will just say no.

I don't want him to hurt his ears but if he can dive I would want him to. when I discussed postponing getting certified he started to cry (in a grown up cool 13 year old boy way).


;-0

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Avoiding water in the ear canal is a must with tubes in the ears and there is not really a mask around that guarentees the ears will stay dry. Some dry hoods are around that are really dry - until they leak a bit, but they obviuosly require a dry suit and are not somthing I would want to depend on.

I did see an odd sort of mask a few years ago with little cups over the ears and tubes to the mask to allow equalization, but I doubt it would be 100% effective.

I had tubes in my ears as a kid due to chronic ear infections. They stopped as soon as I moved out of the house and I initially attributed it to diving (more ear clearing etc) which I started doing a the same time. However in hindsight, it is pretty obvious that the issue had nothing to do with diving but rather with moving away from my parent's second hand smoke. It's pretty common for kids to snot up and get frequent ear infections due to second hand smoke.

I have no clue if anyone in your family smokes, but if that is the case, it may well give you another option other than installing tubes.

 

[Sean326]

DA Aquamaster once bubbled...
I did see an odd sort of mask a few years ago with little cups over the ears and tubes to the mask to allow equalization, but I doubt it would be 100% effective.

I saw that to, I think your talking about the pro-ear 2000 and I agree I can't see it being 100% watertight especially on a kid.

DA Aquamaster once bubbled...
I have no clue if anyone in your family smokes, but if that is the case, it may well give you another option other than installing tubes.

No one smokes not even in the extended family ie: grandparents cousins etc.

 

[Bob3]

I had a set of ear tubes installed about a year ago. My ENT said I could keep diving as long as no water got into them.
The masks with the ear cups may be a viable solution for some problems, but there's no way I'd risk it myself, or recommend their use under said circumstances considering the potential damage that could result from a dislodged mask.
Happily I had a couple helemets laying around I could use, though the novelty of lugging a 35 lb hat around wears off quickly. Then there's the annoying price, about $3500 for a used one.
My tubes are out now (first one fell out in about 3 months, 2nd one in 8) & I'm happy to give up the 30% hearing in exchange for the hassle free diving.

On the bright side the ear infections usually lessen with age, and the use of medication to keep the sinus & ears clear helps a lot. I use Flonase + start taking sudafed the day before diving or flying.
Check with your ENT to see if these are viable alternatives.
The ear cup masks should be OK for snorkeling on the surface.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

No one smoking in the house is probably bad news for your son.

I was a real swimaholic and not swimming for a year was a real killer. Your son won't like it either but I'm not sure how he can avoid it.

As Bob points out, hardhat diving is an option, but probably not real practical. Still, it would be really cool

 

[sealkie]

Your wife over ruling PADI is a smart lady IMHO ... 10 is too young ... but that besides the point

The mask with the ear cups is a proear 2000

Even if it did work while fitted you son needs to do mask remove and replace as a basic skill for certification - which would dislodge the cups - Idon`t know of any agency that would allow certification without completing any mask exercises

I would also be worried that with the tubes in he wouldn`t learn to equalise correctly

Any idea what s causing the ear infections ?

I would suggest that the risk of futher infection which may lead to permenant hearing loss is not worth it - postpone the training for a year or so. Your son will also be more mature physically and mentally - although I understand he must be dissapointed.