Thank you for all your replies, I appreciate it very much!
I went to the diving ENT this week and he made an audiogram (rechts = right ear, links = left ear).
Afterwards he told me that my ear is perfectly fine and that the fact that I "perceive" the ear as blocked, comes from a different cause (for instance from a stressed out neck or jaw). He recommended me heat therapy. I was very sceptical about this diagnosis, but that's how the conversation ended.
I am attaching here all the audiograms, that I have done either at the hospital or a different (non-diving) ENT.
A brief history on my medical history:
- 11 july: audiogram at the hospital pre-operation (at this point I had no blocked ear)
- 26 july: balloon eustachian tuboplasty because I couldn't equalize pressure on my right ear
- 04 august: audiogram at my non-diving ENT post-op
- 03 september: right ear injury while diving
- 23 september, 30 september, 13 november audiograms at my non-diving ENT (all three in the same picture)
- end of september: intratympanic shot with cortisone (didn't tolerate the shot very well, so I decided not to repeat this one). The shot brought a slight improvement, as far as I can tell at least...
- 04 october, 13 november: audiograms at the hospital
- end of october: intratympanic shot with cortisone (different doctor, I had no problems with the shot this time). The shot didn't bring much improvement.
To be honest, I am told different things by different doctors.
My non-diving ENT says that I experienced a hearing loss injury and that this is why I feel the ear is blocked. He told me that if the intratympanic shots are not helping, nothing will.
The doctors at the hospital look at the audiograms, look at me, and then say that my ear is fine and they can't understand what my problem is.
My diving ENT states that my ear is perfectly fine and that I should do heat therapy.
All in all, I am pretty confused, while my ear is certainly not O.K. ...
I went to the diving ENT this week and he made an audiogram (rechts = right ear, links = left ear).
Afterwards he told me that my ear is perfectly fine and that the fact that I "perceive" the ear as blocked, comes from a different cause (for instance from a stressed out neck or jaw). He recommended me heat therapy. I was very sceptical about this diagnosis, but that's how the conversation ended.
I am attaching here all the audiograms, that I have done either at the hospital or a different (non-diving) ENT.
A brief history on my medical history:
- 11 july: audiogram at the hospital pre-operation (at this point I had no blocked ear)
- 26 july: balloon eustachian tuboplasty because I couldn't equalize pressure on my right ear
- 04 august: audiogram at my non-diving ENT post-op
- 03 september: right ear injury while diving
- 23 september, 30 september, 13 november audiograms at my non-diving ENT (all three in the same picture)
- end of september: intratympanic shot with cortisone (didn't tolerate the shot very well, so I decided not to repeat this one). The shot brought a slight improvement, as far as I can tell at least...
- 04 october, 13 november: audiograms at the hospital
- end of october: intratympanic shot with cortisone (different doctor, I had no problems with the shot this time). The shot didn't bring much improvement.
To be honest, I am told different things by different doctors.
My non-diving ENT says that I experienced a hearing loss injury and that this is why I feel the ear is blocked. He told me that if the intratympanic shots are not helping, nothing will.
The doctors at the hospital look at the audiograms, look at me, and then say that my ear is fine and they can't understand what my problem is.
My diving ENT states that my ear is perfectly fine and that I should do heat therapy.
All in all, I am pretty confused, while my ear is certainly not O.K. ...
