Ear squeeze

[Sideband]

I hit the quarry today wanting to get in several dives. We surface swam to the far side wanting to see some different sights and fish and then started down slowly. The plan was to stop at 15' and check temps. I was ok at about 5' and kept going down but then started to have trouble with my left ear. At about 10' I stopped and signed that I was having trouble and Then went up a few feet. That was a bit better so I started down again but as I tried to equalize I could hear a 'whistle' in that left ear. It seemed to be equalizing but very slowly. My right ear was fine. We kind of bounced up and down a bit as I would think I had it then find that I didn't. We got down to about 17' and it started to hurt so I gave the thumb and we surfaced. (Total time down, 10 minutes) We swam back (about 15 minutes) and i took a couple of sudafedand sat around for about 45 minutes for it to take effect. When it seemed like I was able to clear both ears on the surface we went boack out, opting to stay above 25' this time and going down on a buoy so I could inch down at a very controlled speed. I was ok at the beginning and we took a good tour of the shallow side. I had to equalize quite a few times as we went along because we were following the bottom and were varying our depth between 10 and 25 feet. Towards the end my left ear was starting to hurt. When we got out (after 45 minutes) I had a nice reverse squeeze in the left ear. I could feel a small bit of water in it and could hardly hear anything in it. The pressure reamined for about 7 hours, and is still a bit tender. The pressure seems to be gone now but I haven't felt the water drain yet. I have plans to dive tomorrow and Monday and am afraid that I may not be able to, at least tomorrow. I think I made a mistake on that first descent by not calling it earlier, but I have never had trouble clearing before and thought it would eventually go.
I'm a new diver and was feeling that my trouble was a beginners problem (which it wasn't). The real trouble came because I was new and didn't know enough to just call the dive for fear of looking new. By trying to not look like I was having a beginners problem I made a beginners mistake.

Any ideas that will help clear this ear up so I can dive this weekend. If not tomorrow then Monday at least?

Joe

 

[MyDiveLog]

Sounds like you may have an ear or sinus infection and may have irritated your eustacian tube. That 'whistling" sound is air bleeding up through the tube, which may have been closed due to allergies or infection... the reverse squeeze is nothing to mess around with.

If you STILL have water in the ear try adding a few drops of "Swimmers Ear," which is basically 100% alcohol. My ENT recommends a 50/50 mix of alcohol and water. The alcohol will change the surface tension of the water in your ear and may help it to drain out. If you have any of the Cipro Otic ear drops it'd probably be a good idea to put some in. If nothing works, try sleeping with that ear down.

You might also want to stay away from milk products, which can increase the mucous. Finally, you should gently equalize your ears frequently on land; keeping the eustacian tubes open helps them heal.

Before you descend, do you equalize once on the surface (you should)? It's also a good idea to descend feet-down; the rising air helps open your eustacian tubes.

Good luck!

Phil

 

[Sideband]

Sounds like you may have an ear or sinus infection and may have irritated your eustacian tube. That 'whistling" sound is air bleeding up through the tube, which may have been closed due to allergies or infection... the reverse squeeze is nothing to mess around with.

If you STILL have water in the ear try adding a few drops of "Swimmers Ear," which is basically 100% alcohol. My ENT recommends a 50/50 mix of alcohol and water. The alcohol will change the surface tension of the water in your ear and may help it to drain out. If you have any of the Cipro Otic ear drops it'd probably be a good idea to put some in. If nothing works, try sleeping with that ear down.

You might also want to stay away from milk products, which can increase the mucous. Finally, you should gently equalize your ears frequently on land; keeping the eustacian tubes open helps them heal.

Before you descend, do you equalize once on the surface (you should)? It's also a good idea to descend feet-down; the rising air helps open your eustacian tubes.

Good luck!

Phil

Thanks. I'll try the alcohol (vodka or Jack D? )tonight.
I do normally equalize on the surface and then all the way down and I do descend vertically. I think I had a small irritation in the ear and irritated it with the 10 minutes of trying to get it to clear. During the next dive the additional clearing may have caused a small bit of swelling which caused the reverse squeeze. I have a history of excessive ear wax buildup and that may have contributed. One thing I know for sure is if I have any trouble tomorrow I am thumbing the dive and finding my buddy a new partner for the day. I was hoping to get in 12 dives this weekend but it looks like I may be closer to half that. No big deal. I have the rest of my life to dive and it isn't worth getting hurt. Again.

Joe

 

[DocVikingo]

The picture and symptoms reported are quite consistent with a problem in the middle ear, not the outer ear. A less than fully open eustachian (not "eustacian") tube likely is the culprit. As such, placing drying or antibiotic drops within the outer ear will almost certainly bring no relief.

Moreover, even if these difficulties were related to an auditory canal infection, the infection is more likely to be fungal than bacterial in nature, in which case Cipro Otic would provide no benefit.

You make no mention of allergy, so I'm not sure why this matter was raised. But now that we're discussing it, do you have allergies that could impede clearing?

It is possible that there was bit of middle ear/eustachian tube congestion to begin with and additional, and possibly less than gentle, clearing may have caused swelling, leading equalization matters to deteriorate.

A physician can readily visualize your external ear to rule out wax buildup or an infection of the canal, and these usually can be easily treated. If a middle problem is diagnosed, the signs and symptoms can be treated with decongestants, agents that reduce swelling and appropriate antibiotics if indicated.

In the meantime, doing no additional dives seems prudent. Should the inner ear become involved, one could sustain permanent hearing abnormalities.

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual, and should not be construed as such.

Best regards.

DocVikingo

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

Sideband,

My wife also has ear issues with diving. She had tubes in her ears as a young child, we don't know if there's a link to that or not. Anyway, she also suffers from more than typical wax buildup and has pretty narrow passages. Three times on dive trips we've had to go to a doctor familiar with diving mid-trip, and the docs' diagnoses were she needed a professional "ear-igation" performed, and lay out of diving for 2 to 3 days. We try to do this at home before a dive trip, but the little squeeze bulb thingies we can get at the pharmacy just don't provide the pressure & flow the apparatus used at the doctor's offices. If we could get the right apparatus to have around the house, we could probably mitigate the vast majority of this stuff. We have yet to find a doctor in our current area familiar with scuba diving and its effects, unlike where we used to live. We'll keep trying though.

I've had a few instances of diving related ear trouble too, but I never had tubes in my ears nor do I suffer from greater than usual wax accumulation. My personal experience is if the issue is in the outer ear, and you use swimmwers' drops or something similar with alcohol, the burning sensation will let you know whatever is in trouble is in contact with the outside. I don't recommend you try this to narrow down where the problem is - let a doctor do that and prescribe appropriate meds if needed. I've typically taken 1 to 2 days off from diving once this occurs (the day of the doctor visit and day after usually), and then I'm OK. You should seriously consider thumbing further diving until you've had your ears examined IMHO.

Best of luck!

 

[Sideband]

Thanks for all of the information from everyone.
I woke up feeling a lot better and did go out today with the mindset that if I have even the slightest bit of trouble I was getting out of the water. (I didn't get to read these posts till I got home today.)
Everything went like normal without even a slight bit of trouble clearing. I took it really easy on the first dive and we stayed at about 20'. I know that is where the biggest pressure change is but it felt like we were taking it easy. I did two dives all together and didn't have any trouble. Right now I can feel a bit of water in there but it is draining. I don't have any alergies but like I think I said before, I do have trouble with the wax buildup and that ear is usually the worst. I think I will go see a Dr. though just to be sure and get it cleared up either way.
Thanks again and next timeI promise to hang out long enough to read the replies before going out and possible making things worse.

Joe