Ear trouble - ready to rip it off my head!!

[cyberfed]

Hey folks I have a question about my ear regarding pressure.

On Sunday I was finishing up my deep dives for my AOW.
My first dive was to 100 ft and second dive was to 80 ft.
I had no troubles clearing my ears on the way down and back up (or on any dive before). The rest of that day I felt fine, no ear troubles.

Monday I noticed my ear hurt a little, but not like an infection hurt, more of a physical pain meaning if I didn't touch my hear or try to equalize it wouldn't hurt. If I did try and touch it or hold my nose and blow it did hurt a little, not a huge pain though.
I left it alone and continued my day.

Tuesday morning again I still had some discomfort, felt like it was clogged and was annoying me. I decided to go see a doctor, I went to an ear doctor.

He examined the ear and said things looked ok, he also used a camera inserted through my nose to look at my eustation tube (that was a weird feeling!) and he said everything was fine, no damage. He also cleaned out my ears since I had some wax buildup. Only my right ear has been bothering me since Sunday's dive.
He gave me the clean bill of health and said I should be ok.

Today I woke up and I still feel like if I had water in my ear. But I dont (at least I dont think so).. I have used ear drops to dry up water. When I try and hold my nose and equalize it seems fine (less pain now too) but the sensation of my ear being "blocked" is still there. Every now and then during the day today I get a little tingling pain.
I can hear fine out of both ears. Mostly I notice when I am eating/chewing on something, I can "hear" the chewing really loud in my right ear. (Hard to explain but I think you know what I mean about "hearing" things in your ear.

Any thoughts on this? I'm assuming it will just go away for the next few days. Just annoying!!!

 

[Muggsy]

My husband Howard and I have both had the same problems. We recently were diving in the Dominican Republic with Pirates Cove. We did multiple dives to 200+ feet and for consecutive days. We had the same sensation and discomfort. After a week of that we had another week of 25 hours in the water. By the end of that week the feeling of water in the ears was intense. It does go away after a few days. We dive a lot and I have had many problems with my ears, but a drying mixture for the ears is great, use before and after a dive. In addition Doc's Pro Plugs work well too. Jill and Robert talk about ear problems in the new ScubaBoard show, Pod cast. http://www.thescubaboardshow.com
Check it out, it is really interesting and filled with great ideas to help you with your ear problems.
Good luck, but keep on diving, there are solutions.

 

[cyberfed]

Update:
I think it may be water, I got home today from work and tried some more of the swimmers ear solution (fancy name for rubbing alcohol). I left it in for a good 5 minutes. After that I dried the inside of my ear. Didn't solve the issue, however when I bounced up and down with my ear facing the ground (old school method I used when I was kid to get water out of my ears) I heard what sounded to be bubbles. This makes me think there is some fluid trapped somewhere.

I have another apt tomorrow with the ear doctor, going to see if he can prescribe me some heavy duty stuff if it is indeed water clogged. I don't want an infection that's for sure.

Any advise you have keep it coming! One question I have is how is it treated if there is water in the middle ear vs outer ear. Logically treating outer ear clogs is pretty straightforward. But how is middle/inner ear water clogs treated? Just with drops as well?

 

[TSandM]

If you have fluid in the middle ear, it's evidence of some barotrauma (lack of adequate or early enough equalization). The fluid will reabsorb over time. There is some feeling that the use of decongestants like Afrin or Sudafed may hasten the process, and antiinflammatories like ibuprofen may be useful as well.

I would be surprised, though, if a thorough ENT examination (which it sounds like you had) would miss significant middle ear fluid. But it makes better sense than having them miss water in the external auditory canal.

 

[doctormike]

I would be surprised, though, if a thorough ENT examination (which it sounds like you had) would miss significant middle ear fluid. But it makes better sense than having them miss water in the external auditory canal.

Yup, that would surprise me too! The devil is in the details, so let us know what your ear doc says the second time you see him.

That "hearing your chewing very loud" is called "autophony", and is usually either due to an abnormally open Eustachian tube (rare), or from any sort of conductive hearing loss (like middle ear congestion or fluid). The theory is that if the sounds of the outside world are blocked, you hear sounds that are transmitted through the bones of your skull more loudly. The test to confirm this is called a Weber test - you put a tuning fork on your forehead, and it sounds louder in the ear that has the conductive hearing loss (or, it sounds softer in the ear with a nerve hearing loss, but that wouldn't be likely in this situation without an uncommon serious INNER ear problem)

Mikie

 

[cyberfed]

Thank you Dr. Mike on Tuesday they did do the tuning fork test, however they put it on teeth instead of my forehead. I could here it a lot more in my right (clogged?) ear.
Today I woke up and it feels a little better, tried pinching my nose and exhaling and I hear again what sounded like bubbles (very little though).

I'm started to feel more relaxed that nothing serious is going on, just annoying.

Dr's apt is at 1:30p.m. today (Eastern time). I will post the results later so this thread may help others in the future.

 

[doctormike]

Thank you Dr. Mike on Tuesday they did do the tuning fork test, however they put it on teeth instead of my forehead. I could here it a lot more in my right (clogged?) ear.
Today I woke up and it feels a little better, tried pinching my nose and exhaling and I hear again what sounded like bubbles (very little though).

I'm started to feel more relaxed that nothing serious is going on, just annoying.

Dr's apt is at 1:30p.m. today (Eastern time). I will post the results later so this thread may help others in the future.

Right, it works the same way with teeth... it's just to make the sound waves travel through the bones of the skull. If you hear it louder in your clogged ear, that is a good sign - it suggests that it is most likely a temporary (conductive) hearing loss, usually related to pressure changes, fluid accumulation etc...

Keep us posted, good luck today!

Mike

 

[cyberfed]

Well I just got back from the doc...I must say this place is the fastest service for a doctors office I have ever had. I was seen earlier than my 1:30 apt time..amazing!

Doc took a look again and say everything is ok, he said I had a mild case of barotrauma and that it would go away on its own. He gave me a prescription for some steroids and a nasal spray and said that should help clear out my ear faster.

So it seems like I am good to go, today I must say my ear feels better than yesterday, less pain (almost none) and the "clogged" feeling seems less..but still there.

Good learning experience for my first "ear encounter" due to diving.
Hopefully this thread will help others in the future!

 

[nereas]

Hey folks I have a question about my ear regarding pressure.

On Sunday I was finishing up my deep dives for my AOW.
My first dive was to 100 ft and second dive was to 80 ft.
I had no troubles clearing my ears on the way down and back up (or on any dive before). The rest of that day I felt fine, no ear troubles.

Monday I noticed my ear hurt a little, but not like an infection hurt, more of a physical pain meaning if I didn't touch my hear or try to equalize it wouldn't hurt. If I did try and touch it or hold my nose and blow it did hurt a little, not a huge pain though.
I left it alone and continued my day.

Tuesday morning again I still had some discomfort, felt like it was clogged and was annoying me. I decided to go see a doctor, I went to an ear doctor.

He examined the ear and said things looked ok, he also used a camera inserted through my nose to look at my eustation tube (that was a weird feeling!) and he said everything was fine, no damage. He also cleaned out my ears since I had some wax buildup. Only my right ear has been bothering me since Sunday's dive.
He gave me the clean bill of health and said I should be ok.

Today I woke up and I still feel like if I had water in my ear. But I dont (at least I dont think so).. I have used ear drops to dry up water. When I try and hold my nose and equalize it seems fine (less pain now too) but the sensation of my ear being "blocked" is still there. Every now and then during the day today I get a little tingling pain.
I can hear fine out of both ears. Mostly I notice when I am eating/chewing on something, I can "hear" the chewing really loud in my right ear. (Hard to explain but I think you know what I mean about "hearing" things in your ear.

Any thoughts on this? I'm assuming it will just go away for the next few days. Just annoying!!!

I rinse my ears after diving, first with warm water from a squeeze bottle, and then with isopropyll alcohol from another small ear-squeeze bottle. The alcohol removes the water and dries them nicely. Without the alcohol I would have the same problem as you do.

Cleaning your ears is necessary after scuba, for some. And me. And looks like you, too.

I have heard of others mixing up vinegar with glycerine, and other such magical brews. Just plain warm water followed by pure alcohol works fine for me.

 

[nereas]

If you have fluid in the middle ear, it's evidence of some barotrauma (lack of adequate or early enough equalization). The fluid will reabsorb over time. There is some feeling that the use of decongestants like Afrin or Sudafed may hasten the process, and antiinflammatories like ibuprofen may be useful as well.

I would be surprised, though, if a thorough ENT examination (which it sounds like you had) would miss significant middle ear fluid. But it makes better sense than having them miss water in the external auditory canal.

To prevent this kind of barotrauma, I like to clear early and often.

I usually start clearing the day before the dive.

Then again on the way to the dive site.

Then before entering the water.

Then at the surface before descending.

And from then on every 10 or so feet.