Inner Ear Imbalance – similar experiences?

[fin_diving]

Hey y'all,

This is by no means a post asking for medical opinion – I’ve already seen both an ENT and a hyperbaric dive doctor and was cleared to dive by both. Just sharing and hoping to hear if others have had similar experiences and how you adjusted.

I first started diving in February abroad and spent 1.5 months doing 2-3 dives every other day. Came back home for a month, no issues during or after diving. A month later (no diving during that time), on the way to another dive trip, I suddenly started feeling nauseous and sick. By the end of that week, I was throwing up daily, some days hardly able to walk or move around too long, and strangely feeling dizzy only when turning my head. Oddly enough, underwater, all of the symptoms would disappear. Never felt dizzy or disoriented while diving. And I always dove very conservatively.

Back home, I spent almost two months barely functioning while waiting for my doctor's appt, nausea only subsiding when I would lie down, until an ENT diagnosed me with an inner ear imbalance (left ear doesn’t stabilise properly). The ENT told me I’ve most likely always had this imbalance, but because diving reduces some of the gravitational pull and “favours” the condition, my body struggled to readjust on land now.

I also saw a hyperbaric dive doctor (after the nausea/dizziness completely disappeared), who fully cleared me to keep diving as long as I stay cautious (lots of water, nitrox, no more than 3x dives/day). He said there’s no way to know for sure whether the sudden onset was DCS or something else. At no point during any of the dive trips did I have any issues equalising (except for 1st ever time going below 18m), any ear pain, soreness, or hearing loss.

Since then, I've been doing daily head-shaking exercises that help with dizziness, I am back to my normal and went on another dive trip, completed with no issues (albeit I was taking it easy and slow, a lot of diving I couldn't fully enjoy because I was worried). As I now get ready for another dive trip, this time in a more remote location, I have trouble mentally adjusting and getting rid of the fear of lasting damage or inner ear DCS. It's hard to even feel excited anymore.

Has anyone else been through something similar? How did you rebuild confidence and get back to diving without the constant fear?

 

[Nemrod]

Two months to get an appointment for an ENT or doctor? Wow.

I came home from Cozumel a month or so ago, the last two days of a over two week trip I began having difficulty clearing, was having vertigo so much I could not walk a straight line. My eyes would roll, even in the water after clearing. I noted a soreness in my left ear. I thought it my usual swimmers ear and treated it with drops. Came home, felt okay, did all the errands and yard work to catch up and that night my left ear began to throb. I told my wife we have to go to the urgent care clinic. The doc told me I had a middle ear infection which was my fear. He prescribe antibiotics. That day my fever reached 102 degrees and continued over 101 degrees for two days. Oh, and it hurt so bad I nearly had a heart attack and I was about to tell my wife to call the ambulance that I am dying and I am really not kidding. My hearing in that ear was nearly gone afterwards and even with the antibiotic it took a good week for the pain to fully subside. Now a month later, I saw an ENT for the hearing issue and he removed a layer of dead skin from the ear drum (gross), now I can hear again!

I guess the point of all that is how do you know that you do not have a low grade chronic inner/middle ear infection? I will believe that before I believe delayed DCS only presenting prior and upon a second dive trip. That if I understand the sequence of events.

 

[fin_diving]

Two months to get an appointment for an ENT or doctor? Wow.

I cam home from Cozumel a month or so ago, the last two days of a over two week trip I began having difficulty clearing, was having vertigo so much I could not walk a straight line. My eyes would roll, even in the water after clearing. I noted a soreness in my left ear. I thought it my usual swimmers ear and treated it with drops. Came home, felt okay, did all the errands and yard work to catch up and that night my left ear began to throb. I told my wife we have to go to the urgent care clinic. The doc told me I had a middle ear infection which was my fear. He prescribe antibiotics. That day my fever reached 102 degrees and continued over 101 degrees for two days. Oh, and it hurt so bad I nearly had a heart attack and I was about to tell my wife to call the ambulance that I am dying and I am really not kidding. My hearing in that ear was nearly gone afterwards and even with the antibiotic it took a good week for the pain to fully subside. Now a month later, I saw an ENT for the hearing issue and he removed a layer of dead skin from the ear drum (gross), now I can hear again!

I guess the point of all that is how do you know that you do not have a low grade chronic inner/middle ear infection? I will believe that before I believe delayed DCS only presenting prior and upon a second dive trip. That if I understand the sequence of events.

Yeah, for some doctors here it's insanely long to get appointments...

Sorry to hear that happened to you!

I guess I should've mentioned in the post that at no point did I have any issues equalising, nor did I ever have any ear pain, soreness, or weird sensations. It is only my balance that suffers. The ENT did a sequence of exams and tests of the vestibular system, and there was no infection, just varied responses of each ear to the same stimuli.

 

[Nemrod]

Well, I ain't a doctor but I do not believe you had inner ear DCS. Your doctor cleared you to dive and I think you should. I also think your docs advise to take it easy, 3 dives per day, and on a long trip, take a drying out day or days as appropriate to be wise.

 

[ofg-1]

I am not a doctor, but I have one. I was told I have Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). My understanding is that there is the formation of calcium carbonate crystals within the fluid in your ear. The head positioning exercises is to kinda realign everything.

I have not heard of it being related to diving, rather to becoming old. I have not had nausea from it, just a 3 tequila mild spinning on rising fast or changing position in bed. It has not affected my diving, yet.

 

[Germie]

Neuritis vestibularis also causes nausea and vertigo. It heals without permanently damage in 1 week till 2 months. With almost every nausea and vertigo, this dissappears as soon as you hit the water, so even easy floating will bring a relief.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hey y'all,

This is by no means a post asking for medical opinion – I’ve already seen both an ENT and a hyperbaric dive doctor and was cleared to dive by both. Just sharing and hoping to hear if others have had similar experiences and how you adjusted.

I first started diving in February abroad and spent 1.5 months doing 2-3 dives every other day. Came back home for a month, no issues during or after diving. A month later (no diving during that time), on the way to another dive trip, I suddenly started feeling nauseous and sick. By the end of that week, I was throwing up daily, some days hardly able to walk or move around too long, and strangely feeling dizzy only when turning my head. Oddly enough, underwater, all of the symptoms would disappear. Never felt dizzy or disoriented while diving. And I always dove very conservatively.

Back home, I spent almost two months barely functioning while waiting for my doctor's appt, nausea only subsiding when I would lie down, until an ENT diagnosed me with an inner ear imbalance (left ear doesn’t stabilise properly). The ENT told me I’ve most likely always had this imbalance, but because diving reduces some of the gravitational pull and “favours” the condition, my body struggled to readjust on land now.

I also saw a hyperbaric dive doctor (after the nausea/dizziness completely disappeared), who fully cleared me to keep diving as long as I stay cautious (lots of water, nitrox, no more than 3x dives/day). He said there’s no way to know for sure whether the sudden onset was DCS or something else. At no point during any of the dive trips did I have any issues equalising (except for 1st ever time going below 18m), any ear pain, soreness, or hearing loss.

Since then, I've been doing daily head-shaking exercises that help with dizziness, I am back to my normal and went on another dive trip, completed with no issues (albeit I was taking it easy and slow, a lot of diving I couldn't fully enjoy because I was worried). As I now get ready for another dive trip, this time in a more remote location, I have trouble mentally adjusting and getting rid of the fear of lasting damage or inner ear DCS. It's hard to even feel excited anymore.

Has anyone else been through something similar? How did you rebuild confidence and get back to diving without the constant fear?

From your description, I'm having a hard time associating this with diving. When you say you were on the way to another dive trip when the symptoms first appeared, exactly where were you and what were you doing at the time? Was there a change in altitude prior to your symptoms appearing?

Best regards,
DDM