Ear canal...

[Externet]

Hi.
During normal scuba diving, does water
- fully floods the ear canal reaching/wetting/contacting the eardrum;
- or partially, with some bubbles hanging in there,
- or there is likely dry portions ?

Do you always hear the typical 'snappy' noise of tiny creatures, or only some times, or never ?

 

[northernone]

In my experience it seems some air remains occasionally, others I suspect nearly entirely flooded.

Hearing underwater is quite good at close range, but the noise of the inhalation regulator noise and exhalation exhaust bubbles creates significant 'white noise'.

Breath hold free diving or on a rebreather it is enjoy to hear the fish eating at coral, rays cracking conch shells and the grinding sound of turtles feasting.

More annoying sounds are the banging and tapping of other divers and boat traffic.

In freshwater diving the sound of river currents, movement of rocks and sand etc are very peaceful as well.

What did you have in mind?

 

[tbone1004]

part of my descent procedure is to pull back the hood, roll to each side, and flood my ear canals completely. My brother actually had a ruptured ear drum because he failed to do this while free-diving. The negative pressure on his ear-drum on descent was pulling it out and when he equalized it allowed it to blow out. Not cool. It can do the opposite if you aren't careful on ascent which is also bad news.

This is a non-issue if you are diving without a hood, that is not an issue, but if diving with a hood it is absolutely critical that you flood your ear canals and make sure the hood doesn't create an air tight seal against your ear canals

 

[Scuba Scott]

if diving with a hood it is absolutely critical that you flood your ear canals and make sure the hood doesn't create an air tight seal against your ear canals

Good advice.

I very rarely dive with a hood because, personally, I would rather have a frozen head. (The picture of me to the left is one of many hoodless drysuit dives.)
The one time I wore a hood because the ice was thicker than usual I failed to deal with the hood sealing my ears shut and ended up with my first ever ear injury.

 

[CT-Rich]

I am not an expert, but I think in most cases there remains a bubble next to the eardrum. The canal is lined with wax and hair to help keep stuff out. Unless you put on a very tight hood or ear plugs, the volume change in small bubble won’t have a significant effect. If you get cold water on one eardrum it can trigger Avery nasty bout of vertigo, since for most people vertigo is pretty rare, I am guessing most of the time water isn’t getting all the way in.

 

[Doctorfish]

I think that without a hood, the ear canals flood completely. Hair and wax are not a factor unless a huge abnormal wax buildup were to be present blocking the canal completely.

Presence or absence of vertigo is not IMO a determinant of whether the ear canals are full of water.

Very cold water instilled into one ear can trigger vertigo, and in fact, this can be used in some medical studies. in tropical diving, the temperature differential is not that great and both ears flood.

 

[TMHeimer]

I learned some stuff about ears/canals, etc. in the DM course, but am no expert. The only problem I've ever had with ears is on the odd occasion I'll get a bit of vertigo ascending (from a shallow 20-30' dive usually). Some say it's because one ear equalises before the other. But that's usually at the end of the dive or at least well after my initial descent, so the water in my ears is already where it is.
I wear a hood and never give thought to making sure my ear canals are flooded. Never had a problem. In contrary, I try not to tip my head completely sideways when donning fins in water because I DON'T want water to go deep into my ears. In the tropics or other warm water, I may wear Doc's Pro Plugs or a swimmer's cap, which also helps keep the water from going in very deep. I am prone to "swimmer's ear" and at times worse. After each dive I Q-tip them out then put I in some ear drops. No problems for over a decade now.
I THINK I hear my bubbles (how is it possible I'm not sure of that at this point.....?). Never heard anything else, ever--except when in populated areas (that leaves out all of my local area) the occasional boat motor. I guess that's the work of the hood.
I'm not advising anyone to follow my procedures--everyone's body is different. What I do works for me. My guess is enough water always gets where it should be in my ears on every dive despite the hood.

 

[Photo Girl]

After each dive I Q-tip them out then put I in some ear drops.

Me too, at the end of the day. I use a 50-50 mix of rubbing alcohol and distilled white vinegar.

 

[Rred]

tbone-
All the more reason that even diving with 1/4" farmer john and full hood, I long ago decided to make three punctures in my hood. One located over each ear, one on the back of the top of my head. The one on top is to ensure air can't be trapped in my hood. The ones over each ear...phenomenal increase in how well I can hear, in or out of the water.
And the funny thing is, since there's really no path for water CIRCULATION...whatever water gets in the hood, well, that's how a wetsuit works anyway, isn't it?
Soldering gun, knife point, leather punch...No BFD to make the holes, is it? Maybe I should patent that before some other company does, huh?