Ear problems post-dive

[FreeFloat]

Quick question:

Say a diver has a little difficulty clearing his ears on descent, but is able to, enjoys a nice long dive (to 30' for 40 minutes for example) with no further problems. However soon after surfacing he begins to experience pain, pressure, and reduced sensation of hearing in his left ear. It becomes obvious to him that he's suffering from a block in his ear and that his ear is still pressurized. He tries to "clear" his ear while on the surface but is unable to.

About 6 hours later the pain subsides and the pressure has reduced, but 20 hours later, although the ear is clearing with some difficulty, the diver still has not regained 100% of the hearing. The ear feels "stuffed".

How long till the diver can expect his ear to be back to normal, and how long must he be restricted from any diving?

Should he have sought medical evaluation, if so at what point?

 

[simbrooks]

FF,

i dont know if said diver is you or not, but on my first checkout dive i didnt equalise early or often enough and got a little pain, ascended and equalised again before going down. I didnt have too much trouble after that, but on surfacing between the 3 dives and on the way home my ears were similarly still stuffed up. Saw the ENT before doing the 4th checkout and he suggested i had some fluid in there, essentially replacing the pressure that was outside the ear (during the dive) from what i could gather.

Since then i have completed a few more dives, each time the surfacing was a little muffled, but no pain on descent, ascent or on the surface, just dulled hearing for up to a week. Tried to clear this with sudafed to clear congestion if there was any, ibuprofen to counter the inflamation if there was any in my eustation tubes and lying on one side at night to get my ears to drain thru eustation tubes. The length of these post diving boughts has reduced over the number of dives, but is still there. I meet people all the time who have similiar problems, also slightly bloody snot as well - no infections of anything, just phlem like stuff. I try not to dive whilst i still feel this way, and no the bouts come in during the drive home rather than immeadiately at the surface or on the boat which is very delayed!! I had a warm rush of feeling in my ear this last weekend, which i assume is blood or other fluid, i didnt get vertigo, pain or get sick, so i am pretty sure there are no inner ear troubles, and on swallowing i can hear a small amount of clearing each time. So at the mo i am battling that one and just asking people to speak louder while i wait for normal service to resume.

I would suggest seeing an ENT if you can, just to make sure things are ok, mine had a chat with me, but could not really help, he suggested that it would improve, taking sudafed and generally stearing clear of pressure til it went away.

 

[ZenSquirrel]

FreeFloat once bubbled...

About 6 hours later the pain subsides and the pressure has reduced, but 20 hours later, although the ear is clearing with some difficulty, the diver still has not regained 100% of the hearing. The ear feels "stuffed".

How long till the diver can expect his ear to be back to normal, and how long must he be restricted from any diving?

Should he have sought medical evaluation, if so at what point?

Sounds like a "standard" middle ear squeeze to me. I've had a couple (why is it always the left ear that doesn't clear?). The hearding loss is probably due to fluid that got sucked into the middle ear because of the pressure. My experience is that it feels like water stuck in your ear that you can't get out (no matter how hard you shake your head!) I had one clear in about a 4-6 days by itself. The danger is that the fluid is perfect bacteria food so you can get a nasty middle ear infection.

I'd see your doctor. They will probably give you some antibiotic and tell you to wait a couple days.

 

[pipedope]

It is usually excessive ear wax.
During the dive it gets pressed up against the ear drum and feels just like an ear that will not equalize.

I then clean my ears out with hydrogen peroxide, letting it soak and fizz in my ear for 15 minutes or so then flushing with water until I stop getting big chunks of wax out.

I usually suggest other people make a trip to the doctor. A GP, family Dr can handle ear wax just fine. They usually just blast it out with water from a BIG syringe.

I also tell EVERY DIVER to go watch the streaming video at;
http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/index.html
"
Streaming Video Lecture
"The Diver's Ear - Under Pressure"

Scuba diving and snorkeling can be fun ways to explore the depths - especially if you can clear your ears as the pressure changes. In this video lecture Dr. Edmond Kay discusses techniques for preventing middle ear barotrauma. Learn what to do to equalize pressure in your ears, teach others proper techniques and learn the safest way to prevent "ear squeeze". This talk was recorded live in September, 2000 and is now available for Internet viewing over the University's video portal . "

This is the best single source of ear info for divers.

BTW I have been diving for 25 years and I did not clean my ears myself the first time. Now I only go see the Dr if my clean out doesn't solve the problem.

 

[simbrooks]

Not a medical person, so my above post is also opinion, you will find a bunch of others also offering their take on how it affects them. It helps to know there are others who have had similar experiences and that you arent alone.

As for medical advise, wait for the medical moderator, who may or may not read this thread, or go see the ENT, particularly if this lasts more than a few days (4-5) and if there is still pain of any sort, any kind of actual discharge (you may get a feeling of dripping or running in your ear, which is mostly likely internal drainage in my case) or if you are unsure about it at all. It doesnt hurt you to go see someone, except the co-pay or whatever other fees.

 

[RiverRat]

FYI:
I squeezed my ears good on my weekend AOW dives. One Sunday morning I awoke with a plugged nostril and I knew I was getting some sinus stuffiness. I thought no big deal but felt a little pain on one decent, went up a bit and was able to clear and dove the rest of the weekend ok, or so I thought. That one time with pain was what did it. I went to an ENT and he prescribed Nasonex nasal spray (great stuff, not at all the same as the over the counter stuff that you get "addicted" to) but it took THREE WEEKS for my ears to clear of fluid. No diving, a real drag but no permanent damage done. I'm very carefull now with equalization, use more technique such as stretching the neck on descent while pinching, valsalva etc. and equalizing early and often (every 2 ft. is not overkill) I also learned that the first 12 ft. is critical as that is where the ears encounter the most dramatic changes from 1 ATA. Then from there I'm overly carefull down to 20 -30 ft. I also chose to use 12 hour time release Sudafed or equivalent decongestant but I'm not a doctor and there is some risk if it wears off such as reverse block and even some talk that it can increase risk of Ox Tox on Nitrox. If I were to get more into tech diving, deeper diving and maybe Trimix I would have to re-evaluate this decision. Even so, being that I'm one of these people that is "stuffy" quite often I choose to use these meds so I can dive, I have to weigh the risks. But again, see an ENT, or better yet one experienced in diving, and then make choices based on your doctors and other professional's recommendations.

 

[willrog85086]

Thanks "FreeFloat" for your excellent questions, and to all who have responded... the discussion addresses concerns I have as a new diver about potential ear/equalization problems. I have experienced similar symptoms (stuffed ear post "diving") even diving in a pool during PADi course. Stuffiness disappeared after returning to the pool the next day with longer sessions under water. Will be doing my OW dives in January and am concerned about the possibility of a recurring problem. Thanks "pipedope" for the link to the lecture site!! I think that link should be widely disseminated in some of the other forums too. My question: what if I were to experience the same symtoms as mentioned in all those who have posted in this thread, and only have 24 hours before flying home again. I have an ear wax cleaning kit I'm bringing (have always had that challenge), but am more concerned about more severe problems of hearing loss etc.... Is seeking out an ENT specialist for more thorough cleanings before going diving "overkill"?
Thanks again, all....