Ear concerns

[Ron]

My son wants to get his diving certification. He has had
tubes in his ears to relieve ear infections on three occations at the age of two, three and four. He will soon be thirteen and has not had any trouble with them since then. Will the scar tissue from the preforations in the ear drums be weak enough to rupture during equalizing? The tubes came out when he was five years old. Thanks, Ronald

 

[herman]

Hi Ron,

You might want to try contacting DAN ( divers alert network), they are probably the best source for dive related medical questions. their web site is http://www.diversalertnetwork.org and their phone number is 1-800-446-2671.

 

[herman]

A doctor in your area that dives may be of some help as well

 

[John Reinertson]

This was discussed at a diving medicine conference and the consensus was not usually a problem.
Rarely, the Tympanic membrane heals over with a very thin monomeric membrane, and that might be at some increased risk of rupture.
The presence of moderate scarring from tubes would not disqualify a person from Navy diving school, but it would be wise to get an exam to rule out the monomeric membrane possibility.
The monomeric membrane is not an automatic disqualification, but if that were present, I'd recommend an eval by an ENT with diving medicine experience.
Good luck and safe diving!
John

 

[rods]

Ron,

I perforated my eardrum about 2 months ago and I am now diving without complication... of course my descent and ascent speeds of slowed. I consulted and ENT and asked him the same question and he advised that it would be hard to say if it would be stronger or weaker, and could change from person to person - condition to condition.

-Rod

 

[King_Neptune]

Just to give a positive side to the scenario ...

I had tudes in my ears 5 times as a child, which really REALLY sucked because I have always loved the water, even as a VERY young child. Then at the age of 8 or 9 I fell from the slippery banks of a lake (Otay lake in San Diego) during a heavy rainfall right into some trees and one of the branches slammed into the side of my head puncturing my ear and just about everything else over there.

Aside from some loss of hearing in that hear, and increased hearing from the other ear, I have never thought about it sence. I've done my share of hardcore diving while in the Military and although not as hardcore as "rainreg" (800ft+) I've been to 500ft+ and it wasnt an issue. Hopefully your son will have the same luck I've had and after those last set of tubes, never have to worry about it again.

=-)

 

[HMan]

Dear Ron, Our company has invented a new diving mask which protects divers ears and makes it easier to equalize.

It is now on sale in the U.S. (after 5 years of development and 3 separate patents.

For more information visit our website at http://www.proear2000.com
or contact our distributors Oceanic.

Good luck
HMan

 

[Campana]

I perforated my eardrum about 3 weeks ago. I went to my regular doctor on monday (the day after) and he saw the perf. On tuesday, I went to a non diving ENT. He said my eardrum was not perforated, though it had been. He used an impedence test which is basically sonar for the ear. He advised 10 days of no diving, which I of course did. I can now equalize normally, but I intend to be very careful on my next dives (rescue class, continued, this weekend). I'll let you know how it comes out. I was very concerned about my eardrum, but evidently it is common to rupture it and not have any severe problems later. By the way, the ENT said I had bad Eustacian tubes. I concluded that I am more prone to reverse blocks than others, and needed to ascend very slowly. That explains why I have been so prone to vertigo on ascent, my tubes are inferior and don't allow rapid equalization on the ascent.

Aren't ears interesting?

Dave

 

[agilis]

An ear specialist in your area recommended by DAN is the best bet by far. Just because a physician is a diver does not mean that they have any insights into your son's situation. The expertise of a specialist physician identified by DAN as familiar with specific diving related issues is of great value, and the only route I'd consider for myself. I've been a member of DAN for 25 years and I've used them to get information and referrals in the past several times with excellent results.

The fairly common childhood ear draining through tubes is not in my limited experience usually a problem for diving later in life, but get a truly expert opinion. Absolutely.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi agilis,

The last activity in this thread prior to your posting was October 31st, 2000.The original poster last logged onto the board at October 10th, 2007.

A such, you might want to consider emailing or PMing the party(ies) you are addressing.

Cheers,

DocVikingo