Eardrum ruptured - docs said that i'll not be able to dive again.

[Sibulyo]

Hello. I'm 24 yo. Since my childhood I loved to be in water and dive without equipment (beacause of money), but In 2018 I got punched with open hand in my ear, and I got my eardrum ruptured.

One year later I went to hospital for tympanoplasty surgery. Main doctor checked mine eardrum, and said that the perforation is so small, that there is no need to make surgery. At first they thought that there is not perforation, but after Valsalva test, a very small hole appeared.

I told them that I like to swim, and dive, and I would like to make this surgery, but they told me that there is no option to dive after tympanoplasty (They did not mean my specific case, but in general).

They told that the only activity to do after tympanoplasty that I can do is swimming, but they advise against surgery, beacause of possible complications (such as worse hearing etc.).

I decided to not to do it.

Recently I started to think more intensively about returning to diving, I began to look for some solutions like a mask with ear protection etc.

But I found on internet that sometimes is possible to get back to diving after tympanoplasty. What are the chances of this?
Does delaying surgery too long reduce the chances of success?

I haven't had any problems with my ears before, and the perforation is tiny.
I'm going to see new doctor, and I want to try tympanoplasty, but I'm afraid that he will say the same as previous ENT's.

I really hope that I can dive again

 

[PR_SMITH]

Talk to D.A.N and/or a hyperbaric doc....

 

[MB NZ]

I had a tympanoplasty in 2010 and have been diving since. Every case is different though, so see a professional. Unfortunately, any perforation which allows water to enter the middle ear has the potential to cause you serious harm. On the positive side, it doesn't sound like you have underlying ear issues beyond a perforation related to trauma.

Delaying surgery won't be a problem, it may even heal in the meantime. I dived with a perforation and a Pro-Ear mask for sometime. I would not recommend anyone does this because the mask will leak at some point as all masks do.

I don't know how healthcare works in Poland, but if you are serious about this, you may need to consider seeing a private specialist. It is difficult for surgeons working in a public health service to justify surgery for what is essentially a lifestyle choice.

 

[Sibulyo]

I had a tympanoplasty in 2010 and have been diving since. Every case is different though, so see a professional. Unfortunately, any perforation which allows water to enter the middle ear has the potential to cause you serious harm. On the positive side, it doesn't sound like you have underlying ear issues beyond a perforation related to trauma.

Delaying surgery won't be a problem, it may even heal in the meantime. I dived with a perforation and a Pro-Ear mask for sometime. I would not recommend anyone does this because the mask will leak at some point as all masks do.

I don't know how healthcare works in Poland, but if you are serious about this, you may need to consider seeing a private specialist. It is difficult for surgeons working in a public health service to justify surgery for what is essentially a lifestyle choice.

Greeat. That gave me some hope. I'm going to see private specialist, one of the best surgeons in my city. If I would want to do tympanoplasty by healthcare, its three years of waiting.

 

[millbilly]

I had my eardrum repaired twice. The perforation was a result of 9 sets of tubes and scarring. The second surgery I believed used a piece of cartilage from my outer ear. They lifted my eardrum and patched it. I was young and I am assuming this is the surgery that you are discussing. My ENT that performed the surgery cleared me to dive and I just started this year. I have about 14 dives so far this summer including two deep dives for my advanced. So far so good. This concern of this ear drum prevented my from trying diving for years.

 

[ReefDiver118]

I had multiple sets of tubes as a child, when they took out the last set they did a tympanoplasty. I started diving 2 or 3 years after that and have not stopped since. Other than the occasional ear infection, I have never had any issues while diving.

 

[millbilly]

The other diver that I have been doing my training with also has had tympanoplasty. So I doubt this can be that rare. Three years of waiting to have the surgery? Or three years of waiting after the surgery?

 

[travisfull]

Contact your regional DAN office and they will give some contacts of ENT specialized in scuba diving: they are generally scuba divers like you and if there is any chance to go back to scuba dive (Im confident there is one) they will explore it with you.
General ENT not necessarily have a good knowledge of scuba diving and whats implies from a phisycal standpoint.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Definitely get a doc that knows about dive medicine before you hang up your fins.

 

[Sibulyo]

The other diver that I have been doing my training with also has had tympanoplasty. So I doubt this can be that rare. Three years of waiting to have the surgery? Or three years of waiting after the surgery?

Three years of waiting to have the surgery made by public health care, so I need to pay about 2500$ and make it in private clinic.



Thank u all for helping me. I messaged DAN, and I'm waiting for respond.