Dive profile: Cozumel (Palancar Bricks), water clear, mild current, 80F water temp. This was my first dive on my second day of diving (3rd dive of the trip). I descended to 35' and met up with the other 5 divers in our group and we continued to descend. Up until this point, I have had absolutely no problems with my ears or with equalizing (on this trip or in the past). At 60' I got a sudden sharp pain in my right ear (made sure to look at my depth gauge when it happened so I could document it in my log). I started to ascend a few feet so I could equalize and I felt a sudden pop and got very dizzy, which felt very strange under water because I didn't feel disoriented or like I was going to fall, but fortunately I didn't have any problems keeping my wits about me. I was in the process of flagging my dive buddy to come over and help when the DM caught my attention and signaled to ask whether I was ok.
I signaled that I was having ear problems and not knowing what else to signal for dizziness, I made circles around my ears that probably looked to him like I was saying I was crazy and he came over and took hold of my BC and ascended with me a bit (still feeling lots of pressure and by the time he reached me the dizziness had cleared up). I started to grab my nose so I could do the noseblow equalization maneuver, but he signaled to me not to clear that way (just a little too late, unfortunately). After ascending a few more feet, my ear cleared, but it still felt very full. I signaled to the DM (and concerned dive buddy) that I was now ok. I managed about 5 more minutes on the dive (19 minutes total dive time), but caught an upcurrent, which I decided to ride gently to the surface and finish up my day's diving.
After working our way up to the Fiesta Americana and catching a cab back to the hotel, I laid down for a nap and when I woke up I was freezing cold. One of the other divers in the group who is studying for his DM suggested that I might have a ruptured eardrum and suggested I go to the clinic.
Dr. Victor Morales and the rest of the staff were very professional and I even got to see inside my ear with the camera he put on the otoscope. The official diagnosis was "ear inflammation and fluid in the ear" for which he prescribed some anti-inflammatories targeted specifically for ears and told me to sit out from diving for two days. He also mentioned that it looked like I might have had a recent ear infection, but I have been healthy without so much as a runny nose since just before Christmas.
My ear was tender for the next two days, which I thought was going to keep me out of diving on Friday as well, but when I woke up Friday, my ear felt fine and I decided to dive anyway. I had no issues after the dives on Friday morning, with maximum depth of 51'. We flew home Saturday afternoon, and again, I had no problems.
I'm thinking that the reason I had problems is that this was my third dive trip and just prior to the previous trips, I found myself about a week post-head cold, so I was taking Sudafed, just to make sure that my ears wouldn't plug up on me (having had ear infections as an adult in the past). On this trip, I didn't take any sinus medications before diving.
Lesson learned: Do not clear ears by holding nose and blowing (and the scale at the clinic weighs heavy by about 10 lbs.)
Questions: What's the underwater signal for dizzy? Also, I know I should probably ask my doctor about this, but are there people who are predisposed to ear trauma while diving?
I signaled that I was having ear problems and not knowing what else to signal for dizziness, I made circles around my ears that probably looked to him like I was saying I was crazy and he came over and took hold of my BC and ascended with me a bit (still feeling lots of pressure and by the time he reached me the dizziness had cleared up). I started to grab my nose so I could do the noseblow equalization maneuver, but he signaled to me not to clear that way (just a little too late, unfortunately). After ascending a few more feet, my ear cleared, but it still felt very full. I signaled to the DM (and concerned dive buddy) that I was now ok. I managed about 5 more minutes on the dive (19 minutes total dive time), but caught an upcurrent, which I decided to ride gently to the surface and finish up my day's diving.
After working our way up to the Fiesta Americana and catching a cab back to the hotel, I laid down for a nap and when I woke up I was freezing cold. One of the other divers in the group who is studying for his DM suggested that I might have a ruptured eardrum and suggested I go to the clinic.
Dr. Victor Morales and the rest of the staff were very professional and I even got to see inside my ear with the camera he put on the otoscope. The official diagnosis was "ear inflammation and fluid in the ear" for which he prescribed some anti-inflammatories targeted specifically for ears and told me to sit out from diving for two days. He also mentioned that it looked like I might have had a recent ear infection, but I have been healthy without so much as a runny nose since just before Christmas.
My ear was tender for the next two days, which I thought was going to keep me out of diving on Friday as well, but when I woke up Friday, my ear felt fine and I decided to dive anyway. I had no issues after the dives on Friday morning, with maximum depth of 51'. We flew home Saturday afternoon, and again, I had no problems.
I'm thinking that the reason I had problems is that this was my third dive trip and just prior to the previous trips, I found myself about a week post-head cold, so I was taking Sudafed, just to make sure that my ears wouldn't plug up on me (having had ear infections as an adult in the past). On this trip, I didn't take any sinus medications before diving.
Lesson learned: Do not clear ears by holding nose and blowing (and the scale at the clinic weighs heavy by about 10 lbs.)
Questions: What's the underwater signal for dizzy? Also, I know I should probably ask my doctor about this, but are there people who are predisposed to ear trauma while diving?
