Keep in mind that this forum is open to fumbling laymen like me so other divers can post from their experiences along with the medical professionals who give very good medical advice here...
I'll preface this by saying that I am not a doctor and in no way should you consider this to be medical advice. But I've had ear infections from diving in the past (have one right now after my trip to Mexico) and it has never prevented me from diving. As long as I can clear my ears I will dive. It can be uncomfortable and it won't make them feel better, but I usually won't let it get in the way of my diving. I was in a similar position as you were when I got the first one. I had a trip to the keys in a couple of days and I didn't want to hurt my ears. I called DAN and the medic said that he wouldn't advise it as it may prolong the infection but there is nothing that would physically prevent me from diving as long as I can clear them. You may want to give the hotline a call and see what they have to say or talk to a doc that has a diving background.
I am not anything similar to a medical professional either, and I am just as mission oriented as Battles there. :11: Keep in mind that we are tellng you what we have done, would do in our lives, along with some good info I'll quote....
(1) Use alcohol based post-swimming treatments. I didn't get ear infections for most of my life but I do now. I think DocV suggests 1/3 alcohol, 1/3 - 5% vinegar and 1/3 sterile water, with a 30 day life of the mix as the vinegar will lose acidity; I have been using half-half but it does sting so I am going with that finally. If you
this forum for *ear* with the asterisk, you'll see hundreds of threads about this. From a DAN article...
There are other preparations available over the counter (Auro-Dri, Swim-Ear) ....... and consist of 95 percent isopropyl alcohol, with anhydrous glycerine. These preparations will certainly take care of drawing excess water out of the cells, but their lack of acidity makes them less powerful at inhibiting bacterial growth. Unfortunately, none of these over-the-counter preparations has been tested in the diving environment, so whether they will work as well as Otic Domeboro Solution is unknown.
Also from DAN...
So what's all this leading up to? "Home brew" to prevent ear infection, as many of our members wrote in to share with us. White wine vinegar is 4-6 percent acetic acid, and if it's mixed with an equal amount of isopropyl alcohol, it would probably work fine. Using undiluted vinegar may make the solution too acidic and cause irritation. Using less alcohol may be wise if you find that the 50:50 mix provides too much drying - this can make your ear canal sore after several days of use.
In principle, just diluting the acetic acid 50:50 with water might work since it appears that the acidic pH is more important than the drying effect of the alcohol. Adding propylene glycol or other moisturizers would seem either to be a waste of time in a home-brew, or it might produce undesirable effects according to Dr. Jones' observations.
(2) When I have had ear infections, and I had several before I got good at using the post-dive mix, I found that the oral antibiotics in combination with the steroid-antibiotic drops best for my experience - probly because the drops ease the pain.
And yeah, if I could equalize okay before getting on the plane, I would. You have to clear on the flights you know, or they can be very painful too.
At risk of stating the obvious discuss this with your ENT doctor and if he/she does not know anything about diving have them discuss your condition with DAN (Divers Alert Network). DAN will talk to you and/or your doctor even if you are not a member.
Non-Emergency Medical Questions
1-800-446-2671 or 1-919-684-2948, Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm (ET)
DAN Divers Alert Network - Scuba Diving and Dive Safety Association
In case you are not familiar with DAN the organization is a non-profit organization dedicated the to medical research related to recreational diving.
A DAN membership is well worth the $29 annual membership which also gets you a subscription to their Alert Diver magazine. A lot of divers (my family of 3 divers included) get the DAN insurance that insures you for diving related and some non-diving related medical issues. I would not be without the DAN insurance.
All true. I'm pretty sure you do not have to be a DAN member to call for phone consultations, but it is still a good idea to be a member; I would be even if I got my dive insurance elsewhere. My membership and insurance are on auto-pay with my credit card, tho - wouldn't want to miss it.
BTW, do not dive without dive insurance. Injuries are not common, but when you need help - you do not want to have treatment postponed until payments are guaranteed, much less do without life saving treatment when they cannot.
