Ear issues?

[midwayman]

My girlfriend wants to start diving now. Trouble is that she's always had somewhat slow clearing ears on planes, etc. Is there something she can go to her doc and have checked to make sure she'll be okay? Or is it pretty much you have to try it to see if you'll have problems. Info and advice with people diving with slow ears would be appreciated.

-B

 

[adjuster-jd]

If she has doubts about her ears, it couldnt hurt to get some advice from an ENT doctor - preferably one knowledgeable in dive medicine.
You may get a referral from DAN for someone in your area.

 

[jdarnall2001]

I would recommend going to an ENT. I've had all kinds of problems with my ears since childhood and was very nervous about diving in the first place because of this. I went to my ENT (who also is a diver himself). He suggested that I use a nasal spray the morning before I dive and of an evening after I'm done for the day. I was cleared to dive and so far have had no major trouble clearing my ears underwater (but I do it often and I descend VERRRRRRY SLOWWWWLY). During the predive I just explain to my buddy that I have ear issues and will be descending slowly to make sure I can clear them okay. They respect that and don't make it an issue.

On another note, once I finally descend, I never have problems clearing. Sometimes going down they don't want to clear, but if I go up a foot or so I can get them cleared and continue my descent.

 

[Kwbyron]

It's a lot easier to clear ears going down, pressure is reversed that of going up in a plane, all you have to do is plug the nose and blow, when going up in a plane, blowing the nose thing opens the ear canals so that presure can escape, so you're essentially making it worse before better. I have a little trouble on planes too, little better now though that I am trying to teach myself to equalize without using my nose.

 

[jiveturkey]

Also, technique and practice can improve things as well. There are a bunch of different ways to equalize that aren't always apparent to the nondiver. Just because she's not good at it now doesn't mean she won't be.

 

[grf88]

A number of people have found this video "the diver's ear under pressure" to be of value.

 

[erparamedic]

Definitely see an ENT... and one that is a diver! I had to have my left eardrum completely reconstructed (was missing 3/4 of it) so I could dive. My ENT is a diver also, so I have great info when it comes to ears and diving. Now, as long as I decend VERY SLOWLY, I'm ok... but I've never been able to get any farther than 69 feet down. That's ok with me though, as some of the best reefs and colors are 0-50 ft!! I do have some scarring on the eardrum, but all is well!!