Inner ear barotrauma

[lowflyer]

Yeah, I wondered about a chamber visit just to get some more oxygen to the injury but thought there was no chance in hell of getting into one.

With this type of injury, if a diver is going to dive again at any cost, how long should he wait for whatever healing might occur?

Thanks again!

 

[doctormike]

Really not a lot of data on that. I would certainly wait until things had stabilized from an audiological point of view, and see what happens with the steroids. Then you have the hard choice of making that decision without good science. One dead ear is one thing. Two is another....

Keep us posted with the follow up, and if you decide you want a second opinion, PM me with your zip code.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Lowflyer,

I assume you're asking that question based on the knowledge that we recommend that people with permanent damage from IEBT not dive again. If by "at any cost" you mean to say that you're willing to risk your remaining hearing and end up profoundly deaf, I would say that whenever your ENT says that the ear is clear and you are able to equalize both ears without difficulty. However, given that the mechanism of injury and symptom presentation are somewhat vague, I think it would be difficult to establish this. I'm sure @doctormike can provide additional insight.<edit> he did as I was posting this

Best regards,
DDM

 

[lowflyer]

I've done some stupid things in life but would never dive again with one ear already dead