Buvar
Registered
New to scuba diving and probably did couple of things wrong...
During my recent vacation in DR, I had a chance to scuba dive in the Caribbean Sea. The resort had some scuba diving lessons that consisted of putting on the scuba gear and dive in the five feet deep pool. The first lesson was free without much of an instruction. The second lesson was not free and did include some basic instruction on the scuba gear, decompress the ear, clear the goggles, find and put back the mouth piece with the regulator, etc., really basic stuff. While I didn't think that the training was really great and makes me a diver, it seemed sufficient enough to dive and I did.
Out we went couple of days later to an island to dive. The first time jumping in the water made me jittery and nervous for number of reasons; lack of sufficient training that you don't realize fully until you jump in, the unknown nature of diving, and not the least, I used to have fear of deep water. Nonetheless, I jumped and it felt good that I floated up without any issue, like big lump of whatever does. We have started to descend and I did all of the things I've learned; decompress the ear frequently, clear the goggles, and control the breathing. The latter one is easier said than done at the first time diving, but I had it under control by about 15'. We went down to 40' and hang around there for awhile and it has been beautiful down there and I really enjoyed it. The first dive lasted for 35 minutes and I had no issues whatsoever, the issues came at the second dive.
The second dive was to 20-25' and was just as beautiful as the first one, maybe more since we've seen more fish, but during this dive I had some issues. It started with the goggles kept leaking water water, no matter what I did. The DM gave me his under water, but the water kept coming in. I've also started to have ear ache, no matter how many times I've tried decompressing, and a headache that was very sharp that I've never experienced previously. The headache did disappear once I've came up about five feet from where I was. This dive was for about 20 minutes and both aches disappeared once surfaced.
The ear ache came back later in the day and flying 24-hours later didn't have much of an issue; except when descending at JFK and sharp headache was back for about 30 seconds. Two days after diving the ear ache remained and I've seen a specialist; he diagnosed me having a "diver ear" and also recommended couple of things. Like don't do "resort diving" and use 50/50 alcohol/vinegar solution after diving to prevent diver ear. That's a bit late advise, but that's on me; he's also prescribed some ear drops for the ear infection.
Now five days after diving, my ear does not hurt that much, but it still feel like clogged and they pop even when I yawn and when I eat. My hearing has not been impacted and if anything, it has gotten a bit better if possible.
My question is how long this diver ear will last, is it ear infection, or there's something else could be wrong and should see the doctor again?
Despite all of the troubles with my ear, I do like diving and want to certify locally prior to my next dive. At the same time, if the trouble with ear is something that will be permanent and/or reoccurring event, I'll need to reconsider.
Thank for listening and I appreciate your comments in advance...
Buvar
During my recent vacation in DR, I had a chance to scuba dive in the Caribbean Sea. The resort had some scuba diving lessons that consisted of putting on the scuba gear and dive in the five feet deep pool. The first lesson was free without much of an instruction. The second lesson was not free and did include some basic instruction on the scuba gear, decompress the ear, clear the goggles, find and put back the mouth piece with the regulator, etc., really basic stuff. While I didn't think that the training was really great and makes me a diver, it seemed sufficient enough to dive and I did.
Out we went couple of days later to an island to dive. The first time jumping in the water made me jittery and nervous for number of reasons; lack of sufficient training that you don't realize fully until you jump in, the unknown nature of diving, and not the least, I used to have fear of deep water. Nonetheless, I jumped and it felt good that I floated up without any issue, like big lump of whatever does. We have started to descend and I did all of the things I've learned; decompress the ear frequently, clear the goggles, and control the breathing. The latter one is easier said than done at the first time diving, but I had it under control by about 15'. We went down to 40' and hang around there for awhile and it has been beautiful down there and I really enjoyed it. The first dive lasted for 35 minutes and I had no issues whatsoever, the issues came at the second dive.
The second dive was to 20-25' and was just as beautiful as the first one, maybe more since we've seen more fish, but during this dive I had some issues. It started with the goggles kept leaking water water, no matter what I did. The DM gave me his under water, but the water kept coming in. I've also started to have ear ache, no matter how many times I've tried decompressing, and a headache that was very sharp that I've never experienced previously. The headache did disappear once I've came up about five feet from where I was. This dive was for about 20 minutes and both aches disappeared once surfaced.
The ear ache came back later in the day and flying 24-hours later didn't have much of an issue; except when descending at JFK and sharp headache was back for about 30 seconds. Two days after diving the ear ache remained and I've seen a specialist; he diagnosed me having a "diver ear" and also recommended couple of things. Like don't do "resort diving" and use 50/50 alcohol/vinegar solution after diving to prevent diver ear. That's a bit late advise, but that's on me; he's also prescribed some ear drops for the ear infection.
Now five days after diving, my ear does not hurt that much, but it still feel like clogged and they pop even when I yawn and when I eat. My hearing has not been impacted and if anything, it has gotten a bit better if possible.
My question is how long this diver ear will last, is it ear infection, or there's something else could be wrong and should see the doctor again?
Despite all of the troubles with my ear, I do like diving and want to certify locally prior to my next dive. At the same time, if the trouble with ear is something that will be permanent and/or reoccurring event, I'll need to reconsider.
Thank for listening and I appreciate your comments in advance...
Buvar
). 
