Question Full ear/hearing loss but can equalize fine?

[Ukmc]

Well not so great news. Finally made it back tot the US. As I suspected I didn't have any barotrauma or water in my middle ear. I could and can still equalize perfectly fine. The ENT diagnosed me with ISSHT which is a medical emergency and needs a steroid treatment within 2 weeks or the loss is permanent. 33% of patients recover some hearing, another 33% almost all, and 33% nothing. Sigh... fingers crossed. Most likely nothing to do with freediving. The cause of most ISSHT cases remains unknown.

I don’t know if you physician shared this information with you, but if he did, I am curious to know what tests did he do to distinguish inner ear barotrauma from ISSHL? Thank you for sharing your story.

 

[mkivtt]

Update - after 14 days of prednisol, my hearing's back to what it was. Luckily it started returning piecemeal in the first seven days, before I even had a chance to see an ENT. I've seen two ENTs since (including the one recommended by DAN) and they both said there should be no correlation between my freediving and the ISSHL.

I still have tinnitus in my left ear and don't know if that will ever go away. The ENT says it could go away in a day, a week, or stay forever. It's annoying but I am able to tune it out most of the time and I'm just happy my hearing is back. Being deaf in one ear felt like I had a giant ball of ear wax in front of my eardrum, or was wearing an earplug. I constantly wanted to shake my head and get the blockage out but of course the outer and middle ear were empty. I did one hyperbaric chamber session but at $400 a pop out of pocket, I decided one was enough as my hearing had returned.

Ukmc: Both ENTs did an audiogram, inspected my outer ear, and inserted some kind of thingie in my outer ear to test the middle ear pressure. I'm not sure how they checked for barotrauma but to me, there's no reason for it to be barotrauma as I could and still can equalize fine and had no balance issues or pain/nausea. I've been (free)diving for 30+ years and have never had any issues clearing and am well aware of what to look for when descending/ascending.

 

[Big_Orange]

Contact Diver Alert Network. They can steer you in the correct direction

 

[chaspope]

Hi mkivtt - how are you doing now - is it all fixed?

 

[Ross19966]

I've been reading this thread and have a question about earplugs. What type of earplugs can divers wear and not have any issues. I remember during OW training that there are special earplugs for divers but I didn't research it further. THANKS!

I use Docs pro plugs. They are vented and make equalizing much easier and reduce the swimmers ear effect dramatically. I also have severe tinnitus and about 30% hearing loss from both past barotrauma and exposure to loud noise. I never had once single event where I noticed a problem worth worrying about. The ENT said that it was just an accumulation of inner ear abuse over time.

 

[Tigerpaw]

I use Docs pro plugs. They are vented and make equalizing much easier and reduce the swimmers ear effect dramatically. I also have severe tinnitus and about 30% hearing loss from both past barotrauma and exposure to loud noise. I never had once single event where I noticed a problem worth worrying about. The ENT said that it was just an accumulation of inner ear abuse over time.

Thanks, I'm in a similar situation, I also have tinnitus but it's not severe. At any rate my ENT told me tinnitus is a contributing factor to my issues. They prescribed a nasal spray, which has helped me out. Nevertheless I'll check out the ear plugs.