Fresh water heath risks

[MKC]

I hope this is the right category for this question.

I was told that diving is fresh water puts you more at risk of getting sick such as ear infections than if we dive in salt water. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[irishsquid]

I hope this is the right category for this question.

I was told that diving is fresh water puts you more at risk of getting sick such as ear infections than if we dive in salt water. Does anyone know if this is true?

All I have is my experiences to date, but I dive in fresh water vs. salt water almost 20 to 1. I've also swam in fresh water vs. salt water about the same. After 45 years, I've never had an ear infection. Either waters can be polluted by bacteria. I shower later after swimming and diving. Unless the waters you dive in are really nasty, I wouldn't give it much worry, though some folks are more prone to ear infections than others. There is a solution some people use for their ears but I can't remember what it is. Maybe someone will jump in with what that is.

 

[tstormdiver]

I have been diving fresh water quarries for 4 1/2 years (about 300 dives) & have never gotten an ear infection (knock on wood). I know many that have gotten infections. Most of the people I dive with use either a swimmer's ear medication or an alcohol/ vinegar 50/50 mixture (ear beer) after each dive as a preventative.

 

[irishsquid]

...Most of the people I dive with use either a swimmer's ear medication or an alcohol/ vinegar 50/50 mixture (ear beer) after each dive as a preventative.

See, I knew someone would know the concoction!

 

[spectrum]

I was told that diving is fresh water puts you more at risk of getting sick such as ear infections than if we dive in salt water. Does anyone know if this is true?

I can't cite a reference but I have read the same thing.

The good news is that it's easily managed as described here.

Pete

 

[Doc]

Most fresh water accessed for diving is still (not rivers, right?), full of run-off/outflow biological and chemical particulates and sedimentation, and with comparatively high fecal coliform counts. Not much gets processed very quickly, and geophysically, most lakes are in the process of slowly becoming a swamp and filling-in over eons. I've cleaned a lot of goose poop off of my flippers.

Oceans, for the most part, are active ecosystems where even man's detritus is processed and treated. Oil spills take longer than poop, but whatever bad stuff is in the water, it gets washed around and away by currents, tides and devoured microscopic critters.

Travel to exotic, sub-tropical locations can expose you to a lot of microbial ickiness (a scientific term), and it is very common to see intense sinus infections and URI's along with the more widely expected (and fabled) gastrointestinal issues.

On the list are oral/sinus infections, leading to all sorts of maladies from Bells Palsy, intense infections, to Toenail Fungus of epic proportions.

We all hear the line, "Aren't you afraid of Sharks?"

No, it's the stuff you can't see that will kill'ya.

 

[FritzCat66]

Only the freshwater lakes here in Florida have amoebas that will eat your brain. :shocked2:

 

[Ana]

I'm glad to see this post, not that I have any hard data to back up this theory, just my personal experience, which is similar but with a twist.

For the longest time my fun dives were in salt water and work dives in brackish to almost totally fresh. Every so often (once-twice a year) I'd go to the springs in Central Florida and sure enough I end up with an ear infection 2~3 days later.
The theory of my last ear doctor (who was also a diver) was that all the minerals and bubbly stuff from the springs would remove too much of my ear's natural protection (every wax molecule?) during the weekend, then Monday or Tuesday I go back to my normal waters without protection and takes no time at all to get an infection.

The theory sounded a bit like "I don't know why is happening, so I'm pulling this our of thin air" but after my 3rd infection, I decided that I don't need to drive all those hours to get an infection, when I have perfectly not clean salt or brackish water just a couple of blocks away and my ears can handle what ever is in them just fine.

 

[kanonfodr]

The theory of my last ear doctor (who was also a diver) was that all the minerals and bubbly stuff from the springs would remove too much of my ear's natural protection (every wax molecule?) during the weekend, then Monday or Tuesday I go back to my normal waters without protection and takes no time at all to get an infection.

I've experienced similar phenomena, albeit not in diving. Every time I go to Iraq everyone seems to be getting sinus colds, the sniffles, and the biggest boogers you will ever experience. A few weeks down the road, everybody's fine (even the boogers get rare). Then you go on leave to a much cleaner atmosphere and have some sinus issues, then you come back from leave and it happens again, only it doesn't last too long. Then you go home and you're sneezing the dust out for a few weeks until your body adjusts again.

So your doctor's theory doesn't seem that strange, IMO.

Peace,
Greg

 

[Thalassamania]

If external ear canal infection is the problem, this is not a new issue.

Good discussion of the issue: Effect of Diving and Diving Hoods on the Bacterial Flora of the External Ear Canal and Skin

DAN recommends half and half white vinegar and rubbing alcohol.

Back during the Tektite program, in 1969, there was a lot of problem with middle ear infections, a protocol of a few drops of mineral oil in each ear prior to diving and a post dive wash was developed.

While Vinegar/alcohol is good, what we used for earwash on Tektite was equal parts of 15% Tannic Acid (15 gm. diluted to 100 ml), 15% Acetic Acid (15 ml diluted to 100 ml) and 50% isopropyl or ethanol (50 ml diluted to 100 ml) in a wash bottle. On Tektite we used ethanol because we had a bunch in the lab for pickling specimens. If you leave a wash bottle full of solution in the sun (e.g., on the dash of your car) it feels so good after the dive.

If you have access to any High School or College chemistry lab you can make it. Or you can likely get a pharmacist to make it up (get your Doc to write it out as a prescription) or just get the stuff you need from any Chemical Supply company

1) Tannic acid (crystals), weight out 15 grams, transfer to a 100 ml volumetric flask and fill with water.

2) Acetic acid (liquid) put 50 ml or so of water into a 100 ml volumetric flask, slowly add 15 ml of glacial acetic acid then dilute to 100 ml with water.

3) Dilute an appropriate volume of alcohol with water so that you get 100 ml of a 50% alcohol solution.

Combine equal parts of the three solutions (in this case 100 ml each to make 300 ml of Tektite Solution).

Mineral oil in the ears before the dive, and Tektite Solution after. I've done this since '69 and never had any problems with my external acoustic meatus.