I've been diving for 15 years and an instructor for 8 of those years. I normally teach at least one open water class a month. I limit my class size to 6 students and normally have a full class. I've noticed in the last year that after teaching a full weekend class of confined water and making certification dives that my ears are very uncomfortable for 2 to 3 days. I've never suffered any ear barotrama in my 15 years of diving. I'm assuming the constant descents and ascents are taking a toll on my ears. I was recently at my physician to have my ears checked out but he could find no issues. I guess my next step is to contact DAN and get a recommendation on an ENT in my local area and get checked out by this ENT which should throughly understand ear issues related to diving. Do other instructors find after time they begin having ear issues?
Instructors having ear issues
- Thread starter ranger
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don Francisco
Contributor
Ranger, I'm not an instructor, but you're probably right it's that it's the result of more than a normal amount of depth changes. An ENT won't be able to give you an extimate of how fast your ears clear, only whether they can or not, which is something you already know.
Hopefully, this is only a temporary problem due to congestion from allergy or a low grade cold, but if not, you'll just have to balance attentiveness to your own clearing vs watching and following your students up and down. One thing you might do is to spread out the swimming ascent drills over time, rather than doing multiple students the same day.
Good luck, I hope this isn't a worsening problem and possible career ender for you.
Hopefully, this is only a temporary problem due to congestion from allergy or a low grade cold, but if not, you'll just have to balance attentiveness to your own clearing vs watching and following your students up and down. One thing you might do is to spread out the swimming ascent drills over time, rather than doing multiple students the same day.
Good luck, I hope this isn't a worsening problem and possible career ender for you.
Hi...
Just noticed this thread, sorry if my response is a bit late...
Are you sure that this is a middle ear / equalization issue? If you have been equalizing for years without a problem, and now you are getting symptoms that last a few days after long exposures to shallow depths, is it possible that this is an outer ear problem?
Swimmer's ear symptoms can overlap with those of barotrauma... long exposure to water with insufficient drying afterwards often leads to external otitis (swimmer's ear).
Many non-ENT physicians have difficulty identifying specific problems on the ear exam, even when they are otherwise well trained and experienced. If you can have an ENT doctor examine your ears while you are having symptoms, you might be able to better determine what is going on and learn how to prevent it in the future (by using an alcohol/vinegar mixture or one of these...).
Best,
Mike
Dr. Mike,
Thanks for the reply. I only have the problems after a weekend of teaching, and associate it with the constant descents and ascents. My ears (internally) will be very uncomfortable, and actually feel sore for a couple of days. My left ear has always seemed to drain much slower than the other. I've never had any problems clearing and can descend like a rock. I've contacted Dan, and received the name of a local diving ENT and will make an appointment to get my ears checked. Thanks again for the response.
Thanks for the reply. I only have the problems after a weekend of teaching, and associate it with the constant descents and ascents. My ears (internally) will be very uncomfortable, and actually feel sore for a couple of days. My left ear has always seemed to drain much slower than the other. I've never had any problems clearing and can descend like a rock. I've contacted Dan, and received the name of a local diving ENT and will make an appointment to get my ears checked. Thanks again for the response.
Right... the devil is in the details... and you probably have a pretty good idea yourself whether these are middle or outer ear symptoms. The ENT doc should be able to confirm this for you.
The only reason that I thought that it might be outer ear is that you seem to have no problem equalizing, and it happens after a long exposure to water. But of course, it also could be the cumulative effect of such frequent intense equalization for all of the descents and ascents.
Keep us posted, good luck!
Best,
Mike
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