Ear Problems - Please Help

[steveinmiss]

My wife and I just got back from a week in Cancun where we spent a day in Cozumel and dove the Santa Rosa Wall and Paradise Reef. We were just certified in Jamaica in 2003 and have only dove there when we were certfied, in Cozumel for three days (six dives) last year, and then our 2 Coz dives this year.

My wife has had trouble getting her ears to clear every time we have dove. When we descend, she has to descend just a few feet at a time and wait for her ears to get used to the depth. What she has been doing is descending until she feels pressure or pain and then waits until it goes away or even ascends a little to ease up the pressure or pain. Eventually she gets down to the bottom. Once there, she loves diving and doesn't breathe hard at all and can stay down as long as anybody.

After our two dives last week, her ears bothered her for our last two days in Cancun. She likes to dive but the ear problems make it not worth it to her. I was hoping that some of you very experienced divers would have encountered other people with the same issue as my wife and might be able to have some suggestions for us.

Please don't tell us about the physical mechanics of "clearing your ears" as she knows very well how to do that - it just doesn't work with her.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Steve and Beth

 

[CathyS]

After our two dives last week, her ears bothered her for our last two days in Cancun. She likes to dive but the ear problems make it not worth it to her. I was hoping that some of you very experienced divers would have encountered other people with the same issue as my wife and might be able to have some suggestions for us.

Please don't tell us about the physical mechanics of "clearing your ears" as she knows very well how to do that - it just doesn't work with her.

I have had some trouble clearing my right ear. The first thing I did was see an ENT to make sure I didn't have a problem that would make diving unadvisable. He prescribed Rhinocort, a prescription steroidal spray. If your wife has not seen an ENT, it would probably be a good idea.

In addition, I make sure to attempt to clear my ears early and often. I do it on the surface, the instant my head goes under water, and every couple of feet from there on down. This seems to have resolved my problem.

When you say ear-clearing does not work for your wife, do you mean that she no longer attempts to do it since it seems to have no effect? I think descending until she feels pain is not the best choice and could end up causing damage.

 

[chrispete]

Not to be presumptious but maybe some alternate "mechanics" of clearing may help her. She can wiggle her jaw side to side and/or up and down - that helps some people, she can turn her ears toward the surface and then try to clear while the ear is up, etc. Try a search on "clearing" on the forum and you will find dozens of tips and tricks that can be used in addition to the basic valsalva maneuver.

 

[fishoutawater]

Steve, I've found that if I wait til I feel pain on my drums, I can't clear my ears until I rise back up a few feet. I don't know why that is, but once I rise back up I can clear my ears fine. Usually I can equalize just by swallowing continuously on the way down. Rarely do I have to pinch my nose.
One time I dove with some congestion from a cold, and had a heck of a time equalizing.
What actually worked that time was yawning.
OTOH, my ear drums always sound like a couple loose trash bags for a few days after I dive, especially after freediving multiple times.

 

[chrispete]

Fish, the reason that you usually cannot clear once you feel the pain is because your eustation tubes have basically "collapsed" and there is no path between your inner ear and a source of air at ambient pressure from the back of your throat.

[Added] The problem that you can run into by forcing air through the eustation tube when it is in this condition is that it will irritate the tube and cause it to swell, causing it to be harder to clear, and then you get into a circle that ends with you not being able to clear at all.

 

[spectrum]

What she has been doing is descending until she feels pressure or pain and then waits until it goes away or even ascends a little to ease up the pressure or pain.

If she's feeling pain she must go back up again to let the tubes relax. What she needs to do is stay ahead by equalizing earlier and more often. My wife is haveing the same leaning experience. The good news is that with practice it gets easier. Peforming a Valsalva every now and then throught the day can help condidion the tube to respond.

Dito on the helpful sprays mentioned.

Pete

 

[jcole]

Hi Steve,

I've also had serious issues clearing my ears and experienced alot of pain and soreness afterwards. It was becoming quite an issue for me and motivated me to do some additional research as you have done.

On my last 4 dives I changed a couple of things about the way I was attempting to equalize which seemed to have made a big difference.

1. I now start equalizing before I even hit the water...as earlier as a couple of hours before the dive. This may be overkill, but I can feel the air moving into the inner sinuses/ear and it also serves as practice and preparation for when I hit the water.

2. I no longer wait until I feel I need to equalize, but rather equalize pre-emptively all the way down whether I feel that I need it or not.

3. I am more gentle with the process now, not forcing it as I think that I was causing undue stress to the ears etc. before.

Anyways, you and your wife may know some of this already but it is what helped me.

Best,
John

 

[M.D.]

Is it normal to get a little air coming out tear ducts when using Valsalva? It's a strange sensation.

 

[toodive4]

She is not following "Golden Rule" #2 of SCUBA... Equalize your ears early and often. I teach my students to begin equalizing their ears on the way to the dive site. If you're going on a vacation, start equalizing one week before you go and do so a few times throughout the day. Once you arrive at your travel destination, continue equalizing at least once every other hour. Once you get on the boat, begin equalizing every 15 minutes. Equalize right before you do your entry. Equalize again on the surface before starting your descent - then equalize the entire way down to 30 feet without ever removing your hand from your noce pocket.

What all this is doing is conditioning the eustation tube for diving. The clearing process is not a naturally occuring phenomena. In fact if you've never been diving, never been on a airplane and never drove high into the mountains, your eustation tubes may have never had to equalize before. Think of it as training for the tubes...

Equalize early and often... I equalize every day of my life whether diving or not... It has greatly improved my ability to equalize easily and safely...

Hope that helps

Ken Barrick
AOWI 13943

My wife and I just got back from a week in Cancun where we spent a day in Cozumel and dove the Santa Rosa Wall and Paradise Reef. We were just certified in Jamaica in 2003 and have only dove there when we were certfied, in Cozumel for three days (six dives) last year, and then our 2 Coz dives this year.

My wife has had trouble getting her ears to clear every time we have dove. When we descend, she has to descend just a few feet at a time and wait for her ears to get used to the depth. What she has been doing is descending until she feels pressure or pain and then waits until it goes away or even ascends a little to ease up the pressure or pain. Eventually she gets down to the bottom. Once there, she loves diving and doesn't breathe hard at all and can stay down as long as anybody.

After our two dives last week, her ears bothered her for our last two days in Cancun. She likes to dive but the ear problems make it not worth it to her. I was hoping that some of you very experienced divers would have encountered other people with the same issue as my wife and might be able to have some suggestions for us.

Please don't tell us about the physical mechanics of "clearing your ears" as she knows very well how to do that - it just doesn't work with her.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Steve and Beth

 

[ScubaSixString]

"What she has been doing is descending until she feels pressure or pain and then waits until it goes away or even ascends a little to ease up the pressure or pain."

Thats part of the problem. Clear BEFORE you feel any pressure and definantly before you get to the pain stage.

Once you get into the pressure/pain stages, your estachuian (sp?) tubes have already collapsed, and forcing air into them is just that FORCING, if it can be done at all. Not only is it ineffective, it can be dangerous. She should start clearing the moment her head drops below the surface and continue until you reach depth.

If the valsalva manuever doesn't work, try doing it while thrusting the lower jaw forward. But do it early. If you wait for pressure or pain, it likely will not work.