ears

[Lisa0825]

Thanks for the input! I got a referral from DAN in my mailbox yesterday. I finish the Medrol tomorrow, and while the pressure is much better, it is still not back to normal. It does feel like I need to "pop" it, but I have been afraid to try too hard. I think even if my ear is back to normal, it would help my confidence a lot to see a doc who Iknow is knowledgeable abou this. As it is now, I still have that nagging feeling of "what if this always happens?"

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Lisa,
It may not ever happen again. After they are back to "normal" do yourself a favor and practice equalizing often. Especially before diving. Not forcefully but just doing simple things. I sometimes do it in elevators if going above the third floor or so. Or I may just be vegetating in front of the idiot box and it'll start to sound a little fuzzy. Equalize. Just pinch,blow, then swallow. Airplanes are also places to practice. recently flew to San Antonio for my son's graduation from basic. needed to equalize the whole trip. I find that the more I dive the more I notice pressure changes. Going to the lake where we dive is another. It's on a mountain at 3500 ft. on the way up my fiance's ears may pop 3 or 4 times.(non-diver for now till we get her doc's ok). Mine may pop 10 or 12. This is now normal for me and I accept it. You've learned an important lesson about recognizing a problem and taking patient, appropriate action. Keep it up. Sounds like you'd make a good rescue diver student. After AOW that is.

 

[Lisa0825]

I did a resort course several years ago with no problem, and I also equalize on flights and in elevators. This is the only time I have ever had any ear issues.

Anyway, I checked into the referral DAN sent me, and it was for an arthritis doctor!? ***? I replied back reminding them that I was looking for an ENT. I work in Galveston, near one of the largest teaching hospitals in the country, but the database of doctors is not searchable by keywords like dive or scuba.

After getting transferred around a few times through the UTMB referral system, I got a nurse to toss out a few names she thought would be dive-friendly. I wish it was proving to be easier to find the right doc! :-/

 

[asaara]

I am new to scuba diving and i recently found out i have an ear infection. i was wondering if i should put ear drops in my ear after every dive to lower my risk of another ear infection??? my ears are also popping and crackling when i swollow or yawn.. is this normal for a new scuba diver? will it go away?

If you're worried about antibiotic resistance but are afraid that alcohol won't kill all the critters from the water, you can also try salt water (someone help me out here with the "spoons per cup" conversion for around normal seawater with 1.025 specific gravity or 30 to 40 ppt salinity?) if you dive in fresh water, or fresh if you dive in salt - if you use saltwater, rinse with some fresh again before putting the alcohol drops in - bacteria that live in one kind of water aren't always used to the other kind, not sure if the water's in contact with your ear long enough to kill it, so it might be just voodoo or something, but it *seems* to help...not likely to hurt, at any rate.

(for the record, when I do this with salt water, I *don't* take the water out of my fish tank, I use clean, freshly mixed Instant Ocean ;-) - and my tank is inhabited with captive-fragged coral and tank raised fish, thank you very much)

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

I'm a longtime time sinus/allergy sufferer. When dive season arrives I use Flonase nasal inhaler and take Sudafed decongestant(Pseudoephedrine) before I dive. NOTE: It is very important that the decongestant not wear off during the dive. There is a 12 hour tablet available