Having a few problems with my ears.

[foreverbored]

It's probably nothing, and been asked before.

But i've just finished my open water dive course today, we did two dives in the river, 9fresh water/salt water) about 7m, and i had a little trouble equalizing, took me about 5 trys on the first dive, but i managed to get down, and sort it out. I equalized allot easyer on the second dive. I also popped some blood vessels, or something, and had a blood nose at the end of both dives. When i got out of the water, my ears were blocked .. and just felt like i needed to equalize, like when you drive up a big hill. but this seemed to make it worse, so i stoped. I figured there was just air trapped inside the ear, and it would work its way out, and didnt worry about it. i woke up the next morning, and it was still blocked, i figured i'd tell my dive instructor and see if this would effect the dives we had to do that day, he said it might, but it usually doesn't and its nothing to worry about, so i didn't worry, and it didnt seem to effect me under water. infact, it felt like it was gone. but when i returned to the water, both my ears seemed to be blocked.

long story short, well not really as i've allready told you the long story. I'm just wondering if im doing anything wrong, or if i can do anything to stop it happening again
and if theres any way to help realese the air? its quite uncomfortable.

 

[Glycereine]

It sounds like you may have been slightly congested prior to diving. It is very common for people to come up with bloody noses from diving.

The issue is that the congestion keeps you from being able to equalize well and the pressure actually pulls blood and other fluid from your tissues into your sinuses. Then when you come back up the pressure change fills the previously squeezed area back with air and the fluid and blood comes out the normal way instead of being absorbed back through your skin.

This isn't a huge issue as far as I know, but you shouldn't make a habit of diving when congested, with a cold, or anything that makes it hard to equalize your ears. You can take medication prior to diving, but everything has a chance to affect your ability to equalize and you definitely don't want to have the medicine run out of effectiveness at depth.

Make sure you talk to a doctor before taking any medicine prior to diving and unfortunately to be safest, don't dive while you are even a little bit sick.

note: It's also possible you didn't have any congestion or sinus "problems" but have a deviated septum or something else that has never posed a problem to you on land, but may make equalizing underwater difficult for you. The best advice if that's the case is to make sure you go nice and slow and never forcefully equalize.

 

[doctormike]

It's probably nothing, and been asked before.

...

long story short, well not really as i've allready told you the long story. I'm just wondering if im doing anything wrong, or if i can do anything to stop it happening again
and if theres any way to help realese the air? its quite uncomfortable.

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

This type of question comes up a lot here, and while the specific circumstances vary, the basic physics and biology remains the same. So, to summarize our general advice:

1) You need to be able to equalize your ears and your sinuses to dive. Some people have more trouble than others with this. The various techniques and underlying physiology have been well described (be sure to check out the video):

Prevention of Middle Ear Barotrauma

http://scuba-doc.com/entprobs.html

Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page



2) Some people who can normally equalize have difficulty when they have a cold, sinusitis, or other upper respiratory tract infection. This may be a minor problem, or could prevent diving at all until the infection is gone. There are a lot of threads about this here, and some controversy over the use of various medications. Here are a few recent ones:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/248914-otitis-media-nos-new-diver-needs-help.html

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/252840-ear-problems-maybe-reverse-squeeze.html


3) If you are having persistent problems equalizing, there is no substitute for an examination by an ENT doctor, preferably one with experience in diving problems. There are so many variables related to anatomy, etc.. that it is often not possible to give meaningful advice about a specific symptom over the Internet..

4) Do NOT push past your ability to equalize, even if it means scrubbing a dive. You can permanently damage your hearing.

Good luck, keep us posted, and feel free to write any time!

Mike

 

[foreverbored]

Thanks for the help, i wouldn't say im having to much of a problem equalizing. it just takes a little longer than others. I'm not congested, and haven't had a cold in about 2 months.

I woke up this morning, and the blockage in my right ear seems to have gone, but my left ear is twice as bad. It doesn't hurt. hearing is muffled, and it's basically the same type of sensation, as needing to equalize when you go up a tall mountain, ect.

I'm probably worrying over nothing, and it'll slowly work its way out.

Edit: Someone sugested ear candles, that they would help draw the trapped air out?

 

[doctormike]

Edit: Someone sugested ear candles, that they would help draw the trapped air out?

Absolutely worthless as far as "drawing trapped air out", or for anything else for that matter. No scientific evidence that they work, and no theoretical basis for them working either. Also potentially dangerous, as wax can drip into the ear.

I don't doubt that the Internet is full of stories about how great they worked for treating this or that, but remember, many ear problems tend to get better on their own, so whatever you are doing at the time gets the credit...

My 2 cents...

 

[Glycereine]

Did you have any pain on descent when it initially happened?

The "blocked" feeling in the ear is very similar to something a divemaster friend of mine experienced with a middle ear barotrauma.

If it is still not normal feeling I would make sure you see a doctor because as Mike said, it's extremely difficult to diagnose (essentially impossible to be 100% accurate) a problem over the internet, especially based on one symptom.

Still a good idea to ask, just don't want you to be frustrated if people here couldn't answer your questions .

My best recommendation short of seeing a doctor is make sure you don't dive again before your ears feel normal.

Also if there's no pain and your ears just feel plugged it could be water in them...

 

[Bubble Junky]

Could be that you trying a little too hard to equalise too. Equalisation gets easier the more you dive - you understand the process better and how your ears are under pressure. One tip I find helps my students is to equalise as you exhale. Instintively people tend to take a big breath in, then equalise. This seems to make the top half of the body 'tense'. Try equalising twice with each exhalation - once about half way, and once as you finish the exhalation. As your lungs empty, your upper body is more relaxed, and it's easier to get the air up them wee tubes........

 

[foreverbored]

Nothing happened under water, my ears were fine underwater. It's just when i got to the surface they felt like they were blocked. I'll see how it goes tomorrow, if it's still 'blocked' i'll go see my doctor.

 

[Glycereine]

The more I think about it, it's possible you just have water in your ears, which is simple but if not dealt with can lead to infection. Try swimmers ear drops (or rubbing alcohol if you aren't going to use it too often) and if they are better that's all it was. If not, no harm done.

The issue with using straight rubbing alcohol is that it dries out your ears, so mix with a couple drops of mineral oil if it's more than a one time use thing.

 

[DandyDon]

Edit: Someone sugested ear candles, that they would help draw the trapped air out?

About as effective as sacrificing a chicken, except you can eat the latter. Ear candles are a well debunked hoax.

Your experiences are much like those of many other excited :newbie:s but you'll sort it out. I'm guessing some bruising happened; been there, done that, suffered from it.

Hehe my regular bud has always had a hard time equalizing. On our first dive trip together he came back to the boat with a few bloody noses along with the snot that collects in a mask. Once he pulled his mask off and smeared bloody snot across his bald forehead. Even a physician onboard got ill.

Take it easy and follow all the instructions suggested by the good doc above.