Friends of ours try to get Certified..blow out eardrums!

[ScoobaDoobyDoo]

I thought ruptured ear drums never completely heal?
Sorry I aint no doctor, I'm just going on what my brother said the doctor told him. He had his ear drum ruptured (got slapped on the side of the ear) and he said the doctor told him that it will never completely heal. (He can even blow bubbles out his ear when his head is submerged, so he told me ).

In my limited diving experience, I've had 3 different buddies have difficulty equalising on descent and instead of surfacing or ascending a little, continued with the dive. All 3 had a nice mask full of blood and an excessive amount of "booga" at the end of the dive (one of them even commented... "Oh it happens quite frequently"!).

As for your friends, I hope they get better soon and are able to return to the water.

Cheers,
Tony

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Tony,

I thought ruptured ear drums never completely heal?

Most ruptures of the eardrum do completely heal, often within weeks, although sometimes they may take months. When a perforation does not completely heal, there are a number of steps that can be taken.

If the perforation is small, the eardrum can be treated with a chemical that stimulates tissue growth and then a thin paper patch placed over it. This procedure may have to be repeated multiple times before the hole closes entirely.

If it is felt that this technique won't provide prompt or adequate closure, or the procedure is tried and fails, there are a variety of surgical techniques, all of which basically involve placing live tissue from the patient's body over the perforation.

(He can even blow bubbles out his ear when his head is submerged, so he told me)

An individual with a perforation of the eardrum indeed could expel air from the middle ear space out into the water by performing the Valsalva maneuver or other such equalization technique. However, this probably is not prudent as water also can pass from the outer to the middle ear during such antics with the attendant risk of infection.

Of course it is quite unwise to scuba with a ruptured eardrum.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[erparamedic]

When I was a kid, I ruptured my left eardrum 4 times, and my right one 2 times... from bad ear infections. Subsequently, my left eardrum pretty much desentigrated to the point that I only had 20% of it remaining, and over 30% hearing loss on top of that. I desperately wanted to learn how to dive (my parents had been diving for about 5 years already). When I was 18, I saw an ENT that was also a diver. He made a small incision behind my left ear, removed some muscle tissue, and created a new eardrum out of it. Seven months later, I was cleared to enroll in SCUBA. The only thing that appears a little odd when the docs look in my left ear is the scar line on the eardrum. I have dove to 69 feet without any problems, and I've been certified for 10 years now.

Your friend needs to seek out an ENT that is also a diver, and get that physician's opinion. Tell your friend not to be bummed! There are medical fixes out there!

 

[wvjohn]

my son perforated his eardrum trying to clear about 30 mins -after- his 2nd OW checkout dive. It happened in the car on the way home - - it was a small perforation and healed up in about 2 weeks and he was able to complete the OW dives about 30 days from the date of the injury - he reported no issues equalizing or with pain going to 35 feet.

 

[TheRedHead]

Have'n heard any of the details yet but on their open water Dive at the lake this weekend one of our friends ruptured both eardrums and supposedly can NEVER dive again.

I hope your friend gets a medical opinion about this from a doctor who is familiar with diving. The most common way to rupture an eardrum is to force a clear on descent which becomes further blocked by irritated tubes and cannot clear upon ascent.