Ear pain...Should I take the plunge?

[mbitton]

Fellow diver enthusiast,

I have been wanting to get certified for years. I have been reading boards, magazines and hanging out in dive shops ever since. My problem is my ear pain! I think I have a problem with my sinuses that is affecting my ears.

I currently live in Israel (I have the Red Sea in my backyard!) but my local shops are telling me the pain is managable and nothing to worry about. If I dive to the bottom of my pool or drive up/down the mountains I am almost brought to tears.

Do I get the pain because I am not equalizing my ears right away? A shop told me when I am in the water to equalize the moment I feel pressure.

Does anybody out there have a similar problem? If so how do you deal with it?

 

[talonraid]

I have a similar problem with one of my ears. My right ear is much slower to equalize than my left. I also experience the same problem in a pool with pain if I don't equalize early.

I have learned to equalize (valsalva) on the surface before I descend and then I just stay ahead of the pressure by performing a valsalva maneuver often during the descent. If I start to feel a sharp pain in the ear, I stop the descent and ascend a few feet until the pain ceases. Then valsalva and start down again. Over time and with practice you'll learn techniques to equalize with jaw movements, swallowing, and various other tricks.

I've also learned some tricks for my particular situation like allowing some water into the ear canal seems to make it easier for me to equalize. Also, tilting my head towards my left shoulder and extending my right ear up and away from my body seems to stretch the eustachian tube and make it easier to clear if I have some trouble equalizing.

Hope this helps.

 

[boulderjohn]

Everyone gets ear pain when they dive below a certain depth. If you are holding your breath, the bottom of a pool is all it takes for almost everyone.

When you are on scuba, you can manage that, though. You can hang out at a depth where you feel comfortable and work on equalization until you succeed, and then you can slowly descend, still working on your equalization as you do. When you are holding your breath, you cannot equalize effectively because you don't have time before you have to return to the surface for air.

On scuba, you should never feel pain in your ears. If you feel pain, you have gone too deep without equalizing. When you are feeling pain, your eustachian tubes are fully closed, and it is very hard to equalize. You should therefore ascend to a depth where you feel comfortable before equalizing.

When you are first learning to dive, it is usually much harder to equalize than it will be later. That is primarily because your ears are not used to this. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. When I started diving, I had so much trouble that an instructor told me that I might not be able to dive at all. Now I barely have to do anything to equalize. In shallow water instruction, the only reason I actually go through the equalization process most of the time is to be a role model for the students.

That is why skilled skin sivers are able to equalize on breath-hold diving. To begin with, they can hold their breaths longer than you or I, but their ears are also so accustomed to equalizing that they can do it easily.

Relax! You are almost certainly no different from any of the thousands of divers who will be certified this year.

 

[ianw2]

Shalom, mbitton!

Ear pain is a sign that something is wrong, physically. If you have ear pain due to pressure changes, something is wrong. PERIOD. STOP. Any further pressure change WILL cause damage that WILL accumulate over time and become irreversible.

My left Eustachian tube is relatively "normal" and takes little to clear. My right tube appears to be rather like your. I can feel pressure changes in my right ear by ascending or descending three or four floors in an elevator!

Fortunately, my physician and her PA are both divers and excellent medicos, too. With practice, training and the following video and written info links, I have had very little trouble with my ears once I learned how to clear my ears.

http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=2272

http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/MEbaro.html

I've also learned some tricks for my particular situation like allowing some water into the ear canal seems to make it easier for me to equalize. Also, tilting my head towards my left shoulder and extending my right ear up and away from my body seems to stretch the eustachian tube and make it easier to clear if I have some trouble equalizing.

I’ve found this, too, but what I think you mean is that you let water into the outer ear canal. Water anywhere else is an indication of a significant problem.

Everyone gets ear pain when they dive below a certain depth. If you are holding your breath, the bottom of a pool is all it takes for almost everyone.

What boulderjohn means is that everyone gets ear pain when they dive below a certain depth without equalizing the inner ear pressure. When I first read this, I didn’t pick up on that interpretation. I feel the pressure about 4 feet below the surface.

The trick is to start "pressurizing" before your head gets wet and keep working on it with just about every breath as you descend slowly.

BTW, if anyone knows Dr. Kay, please thank him for me! I think his video should be required viewing in every single OW program as part of the very first classroom session.

 

[plot]

First 15 feet or so is the worst, once I get equalized at that point I'm pretty much OK for the rest of the way down. Most other people are the same.

I start clearing my ears a few days before I dive just to get losened up, then I take sudafed before I actually go diving so I'm not conjested. Then, I equalize when I jump in the water, and slowly on my way down I keep equalizing... only problems I had was when I first started diving I used to much force trying to eqaulize and my ears ended up hurting for a few days.

If you're descending and can't get your ears to clear, go up a few feet until the pain stops then try clearing them again. You shouldn't have any problems if you do it often.

 

[fisherdvm]

Shalom, mbitton!

Ear pain is a sign that something is wrong, physically. If you have ear pain due to pressure changes, something is wrong. PERIOD. STOP. Any further pressure change WILL cause damage that WILL accumulate over time and become irreversible.



I agree with this totally. Earpain with diving is more complex than "everyone" getting it at certain depth.

If you consistantly gets earpain, even with shallow depth, on most or all dives - STOP DIVING !!!

You are causing irrepairable damage to your inner ear and your hearing organs.

 

[divemaster_jim]

Diving isn't supposed to be painful, Get your ears checked out by a doctor before you continue diving, There are a number of things which could be affecting your ears, Almost all of them treatable, but if you do continue you can and quite probably will damage them beyond any repair.
Give TSandM a pm, I'm sure she can steer you into the right direction.

 

[fisherdvm]

Based on what you have mentioned here - pain with simple changes in elevation from driving, and diving to the bottom of a pool - it likely means that you have a very restrictive eustachian tube.

My gut feeling is, irregardless of what decongestant and treatment your doctor might prescribe, scuba diving is likely not a sport you can participate in.

I have frequent enough problem with clearing my right ear in the allergy season that I would have to abandon diving when it is bad..... But I have never had pain with simply diving to the bottom of an 11 ft pool, or driving up high elevation.

It sounds like the problem you have should be addressed by a doctor specializing in diving medicine, or an ear,nose, and throat doctor.

My gut feeling is - a qualified doctor will tell you diving is not a sport for you, not now, or ever.

 

[ianw2]

My gut feeling is - a qualified doctor will tell you diving is not a sport for you, not now, or ever.

If that’s the case, find a new doctor…one who knows a bit more about diving physiology and oto-laryngeal medicine. The good Dr. Kay makes the statement that he has never had a patient that he could not train to equalize pressure in their ears. It takes time, patience and a good physician.

Interestingly, as a result of my difficulties, upon my physicians advice, I now take a daily dose of an over-the-counter allergy medicine. I have noticed an incredible difference in my top-side, day to day health and happiness. I have also noticed a steep increase in my ability to equalize during diving. (The medicine is a long-term, timed release formula with long term use data and significant "dose and dive" data, too. Chances of a "bottom time dosage failure are nil.)

 

[captndale]

Everyone gets ear pain when they dive below a certain depth. If you are holding your breath, the bottom of a pool is all it takes for almost everyone.

Everyone does NOT get ear pain on breath hold dives. Only those who cannot equalize the pressure in their ears. While it may be a bit more difficult to learn to equalize on a breath-hold, dive the technique is not difficult and diving without equalizing is to always be avoided.