"Is that BLOOD coming from your ear?"

[Tractor Tom]

I'm suffering from a Exteral Ear Canal Superficial Vessel Rupture in BOTH ears. One in the right ear is fully ruptured and has been seeping blood that collects on my pillow at night. The left one is just a "blood blister" looking thing according to my nondiving family practice doctor. We have started on a course of antibiotics for 10 days to make sure the right one does not become infected. I expect to see a full recovery in a few days!

I understand that this injury is quite common in divers who wear a hood, like I do on every dive, and I'll try to be a little more careful from now on.

I'm not experienceing any dizziness, or that sort of problem and feel that I'll be back to my old self in just a couple of days!

Thanks to all who responded for your concern and caring...I'm just feeling fuzzy all over!

 

[pasley]

But, as we said, when in doubt, check it out. Glad to hear it is nothing serious and you will be diving in a few days.

 

[swill058]

Did your doctor say what causes it? I frequently wear a hood and I have never heard of this issue. Curious to hear what causes (ie. too rapid a decent, etc) it. I can't imagine why a hood would make a difference.

 

[Debbraey]

glad to hear that your diagnosis was found not to be as serious as it could have been!!!Take care & follow doc's instructions so that your next dive doesn't lead you to the doc in the same or worse condition....
Good luck and happy healing!!!!!!

 

[scubasean]

I dive with a hooded vest and haven't had this issue...

What causes it?

--Sean

 

[dlegros]

A tight fitting hood can seal the ear canal forming a closed space that can't be equalized.

The squeeze is relieved when the vessels rupture and blood is introduced into the space to equalize the pressure.

Not a problem if your hood isn't a really tight fit over your ears (which is when sticky-out ears are your friend :ears:

Dom

 

[Tractor Tom]

...I have an attached latex hood on my Viking Xtreme and wear a insulating cloth beenie under the hood, both of them over my ears. You would think that the beenie would be enough to allow the equalization to take place, but when it's pressed to your scull at 3 atmospheres, it is kind of snug. In the case of my injury, I had water seeping in, early in the dive, trapped by the latex and held in place with the beenie. This is only the second time I have felt pressure in my ears during a dive, each time around 40-50 feet or so, each time with a wet beenie under the hood. I'll simply need to be a little more careful from now on, to not cause it to happen again.

Next dive is a weekend at Gilboa, on the 13th of September, and I'm sure I'll be recovered by then.

Many thanks for all the info and positive vibe!

 

[Tractor Tom]

...well, I got to the family practice doctor, who looked in my ears and didn't know what she was looking at. So she called an ENT and then prescribed some antibiotics. And I got worse. Constant watery discharge from the ear canals, pain and so on. So on Friday of that week, I called and asked for a referal to an ENT. Saturday I got the referal paperwork in the mail and was at the doctors office on Monday mid-morning. He perscribed a stronger antibiotic and some antibiotic ear drops. Monday evening, I put the eardrops in my ears, and within an hour, couldn't hear a thing, due to the swelling of my ear canals. Had basically swelled shut! On Tuesday at noon, I called the ENT's office and set up a follow up appointment and discontinued the ear drops. Spent a horrible night last night, with lots of pain in both ears, no sleep and no relief from the symptoms, even when taking a strong pain-killer.

This morning, I got back in to the ENT (now I have a LOT of faith in this fellows ability) he tells me that I have "swimmers ear" and that the drops "did NOT" cause the swelling. He took a culture, put a 'wick' in my left ear and perscribed a different ear drop, another antibiotic to take along with the first, a pain killer and an astrigent solution to use on my ears to resolve the swelling. At this point, I have spent something around $550 for medicines, and $235 on doctors visits.

Today, my right ear began to clear and I can finally hear some. The fever has dropped off, and my left ear is feeling quite a bit better. The wick is working, as are the new eardrops. I think I have finally turned the corner and hope to get more that the two hours sleep that I have managed the last two nights. The stabbing "nerve pain" that I was experiencing in 1/2 second bursts has stopped (at least for now).

Have another visit with the ENT on Monday to check for progress. I hoping that by then, my left ear will be clear and all I'll need to do is finish up the course of antibiotics to end the treatment.

By the way, the doctor said today that he couldn't see any evidence of barotrama, and that I just have a bad case of swimmers ear. When I asked him, "why was there blood coming out of my ear as I surfaced from the dive?", he simply shrugged his shoulders and said I probably had a problem brewing in my ears before the dive....

I guess next time I'll call DAN and see if I can get an ENT who knows about dive injuries...

 

[Boogie711]

Calling DAN is a good idea. Actually - I would strongly urge you to call DAN anyway. That's what they're there for.

Please Tom, don't just write this off as old farmer type 'little bit of blood can't hurt me' stuff. No one knows your body better than you.

Call DAN. Get this resolved to YOUR satisfaction.

 

[ThatsSomeBadHatHarry]

i dont think you should have made that second dive...
any time blood is coming from any hole in my body i stop what i'm doing...
luckily i have only bled from three out of six.