Hood vs earplugs for preventing infections

[BoltSnap]

Hmmm. Perhaps your definition of “serious” and mine are a bit different.

But that is neither here nor there. She has a diagnosis and is now just asking for a bit of guidance from fellow divers, and medical members, on options. Seems quite reasonable to me. Otherwise I am not quite sure the purpose behind the Dive Medicine forum

I am not sure of why you are harping on this matter.

 

[uncfnp]

I am not sure of why you are harping on this matter.

Just correcting bad advice.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

So you will take medical advice from "experienced" laymen on serious medical issues you have?




There aren't that many here, two, three maybe four. At any rate, for proper medical advice, one needs to go and see a trained specialist physician in person to get proper medical advice especially for people living in a developed country. Trying to rely on the internet for diagnosis on what maybe complicated medical issue isn't really the proper way of going about resolving medical issues related to diving. The problem here on SB, there are MANY armchair "experts" who will mislead the person in need of proper medical advice such as what is being discussed here in this thread.

Hi @BoltSnap ,

I don't think the OP was asking for a diagnosis, and you won't (or shouldn't) see a medical professional, including @uncfnp ( my light blue colleague across town), making any definitive diagnoses here. It's clinically imprudent, unethical, and there's significant liability involved. The medical folks here will almost always direct people to someone who can examine them in person. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on too... I know that @doctormike has referred people to ENTs in their area via PM. I have a database of every emergency hyperbaric facility in the country and I often reach out to their staff for referrals for specialists in the geographic location of the individual in need.

If you reach back far enough here, you'll find a thread where another medical mod and I were able to refer a veteran for emergency cardiac catheterization because he'd been misdiagnosed as having reflux. You'll also find a thread where we were actually able to publish the first report of a very unusual occurrence during diving (blindness at depth that resolved on ascent): Transient vision loss at depth due to presumed barotraumatic optic neuropathy - PubMed

There's a lot of good information exchange that takes place here, and if we can get somebody medical help along the way, all the better. We keep a pretty good handle on the armchair "experts" who provide incorrect or unsafe information.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[BoltSnap]

Just correcting bad advice.

So advising people to see a proper medical professional and seek advice from DAN trained specialists is now bad advice?

 

[grf88]

I know two people that found this mask worked for them:
Scubapro Pro Ear 2000 - Ear Protection Dive Mask

 

[bakodiver391]

I've been running dive ops in the tropics for decades. People who use ear beer after every dive don't get ear infections. People who don't use ear beer get infections. It's that simple. I would imagine aquarium diving is high risk for infections too, as is tropical diving, since the higher water temp equals more live organisms in the water that would thrive at body temperature. I wear both Doc's proplugs and a hood because I often do noisy commercial type diving in nasty conditions.

 

[jfe]

I know two people that found this mask worked for them:
Scubapro Pro Ear 2000 - Ear Protection Dive Mask

And me.
Been having issues for years. This is from my personal experience. Started using the pro-ear mask when I saw a guy with it and he explained that it's to keep his ears dry due to risk of infections he tend to have. I've had much the same, 3-4 dives and I'll have clogged ears followed by infection, didn't matter whether fresh water lakes or ocean. Since I used the mask I had no issues. I've stopped using it and went onto doc's pro plugs, worked well for a year or two but then my troubles returned, so much so that I had grommets inserted in my ears in January this year. So now it's back to square one and I've now made the decision to keep diving with dry ears. Sometimes it may leak into the cup but you can manage it.
Good luck for your husband's journey down this path, been having the same for many years but too stubborn to stop diving, love it way too much.

 

[TMHeimer]

I've used the Doc's ear plugs a fair bit. I found they do pretty much the same thing as my hood. In both cases, water is prevented from going far into the ear, but not completely kept out. To solve this, I use standard ear drops after my 2nd dive of the day. I then don't get that "water in the ear" sensation. I imagine this method won't work for everyone since everyone's ears probably differ. I don't use the plugs and hood together as it's a bit "messy".

 

[scubaozy]

I highly recommend following video by DAN South Africa it is long but it worth your time:

 

[diver-jud]

I've been running dive ops in the tropics for decades. People who use ear beer after every dive don't get ear infections. People who don't use ear beer get infections. It's that simple.

Ear Beer does work but it burns the crap out of the ears, takes all the moisture out and dries and cracks the ear canal. This allows infections to get in easier so you have to use more of it People use it because it has been the only thing that works besides ear plugs (which do not work when they fall out).

I have been using a product called Ear Pro that you put in before you get in the water. Keeps the ears moisturized and prevents water from getting trapped, also prevents infections. Been using it for a year in all kinds of water conditions and 150 dives, plus when I swim and surf and have not had an infection or further hearing loss. (keeps the wax at bay too) Worth a try especially if you have narrow ear canals like I do. Love this stuff, makes more sense to protect them before you get in the water as opposed to dousing them with chemical after you get out.