It's been 24 hours and my ear is not equalized..

[Sputt]

Hello,

This past weekend (sat/sun) I had my 4 open water dives for my open water certificate. On both days I had trouble equalizing my right ear only on my way down (33ft max), and after I was out of the water, but it was fine after an hour or so on sat. Since Sunday afternoon I have not been able to clear my right ear. I dont feel any pain, but some tingling/itchy feeling along with the not equalized feeling/ pressure you get on a plane. I've been doing equalizing techniques ever since and sometimes it feels like it actually goes away but then 4 seconds later the feeling comes back. I hear noises like when your equalizing your ears when I try techniques and sometimes when I randomly swallow.

Is it possible i damaged my ear sat but healed, and now on sunday its more damaged and taking longer to heal? Maybe longer to equalize?

 

[BrianS]

I would see a Doctor and have him look at it.

 

[DavidHickey]

I agree with the see a doctor but I will tell you my similar experience. On my 2nd open water dive I came up and my hearing seemed a little muffled sort of like I had a fish bowl on my head when I talked. I thought it was getting better that evening but when I woke up it was the same. I went to the quarry and they advised me not to dive until I saw a doctor. Anyway after doing some research it seems that I had experienced slight baro-trauma "not sure if my spelling is right" but basically when I went down I did not equalize quick enough or often enough, which causes swelling in the inner tubes. When this happens you can get fluid "blood I guess and Muccus" that gets trapped as it cannot get by the swelling. So this makes it feel as if you still have water in your ear. Anyhow I scheduled an appointment with an Ear doctor and by the time I got there 2 days later it had gone away and he gave me a clean bill of health. From what I understand a big concern is that the fluids trapped in the ear can get infected and cause a bad ear infection. Luckily this did not happen to me. Its been about a year since it happened so my memory could be a little foggy, but I think thats what I found out when I did a little research. And no, I'm not a doctor but I did stay in a motel 8 last night. Good luck!!!
David

 

[Doc]

As above advice... plus 2 Ibuprofin then 1 every 6 hours. (If your body has no problem with the drug)

An amazing thing it is, shrinks swolen tissues from the neck up.

Your ears should be happy soon, but consider a visit to the ENT guy.

 

[Web Monkey]

I'd go see a doctor, preferably one with experience in diving-related medicine. I believe Diver's Alert Network can recommend someone near you.

Even if it goes away by itself, this is something you need to get looked at if you plan on doing more diving.

Terry

Hello,

This past weekend (sat/sun) I had my 4 open water dives for my open water certificate. On both days I had trouble equalizing my right ear only on my way down (33ft max), and after I was out of the water, but it was fine after an hour or so on sat. Since Sunday afternoon I have not been able to clear my right ear. I dont feel any pain, but some tingling/itchy feeling along with the not equalized feeling/ pressure you get on a plane. I've been doing equalizing techniques ever since and sometimes it feels like it actually goes away but then 4 seconds later the feeling comes back. I hear noises like when your equalizing your ears when I try techniques and sometimes when I randomly swallow.

Is it possible i damaged my ear sat but healed, and now on sunday its more damaged and taking longer to heal? Maybe longer to equalize?

 

[navillus]

Hello,

This past weekend (sat/sun) I had my 4 open water dives for my open water certificate. On both days I had trouble equalizing my right ear only on my way down (33ft max), and after I was out of the water, but it was fine after an hour or so on sat. Since Sunday afternoon I have not been able to clear my right ear. I dont feel any pain, but some tingling/itchy feeling along with the not equalized feeling/ pressure you get on a plane. I've been doing equalizing techniques ever since and sometimes it feels like it actually goes away but then 4 seconds later the feeling comes back. I hear noises like when your equalizing your ears when I try techniques and sometimes when I randomly swallow.

Is it possible i damaged my ear sat but healed, and now on sunday its more damaged and taking longer to heal? Maybe longer to equalize?

I would not see a doctor yet. Here is why:

The same thing happened to me when I took my OW class. For 2 weeks I could not clear my ear and did not hear right. After two weeks I called my doctor and he advised me to take some sudafed for a couple of days. After about 3 days of sudafed treatment it went away.

After my dive trip to hawaii I had the same thing. This time I really thought I damaged my ear because I had a painful reverse block on one of my dives. I was hearing double. I took sudafed and it didn't seem to work right away. After 3 days I called my doctor and he told me the same thing - continue taking sudafed and if it doesn't clear up in the next 5 days, call me. After 3 more days of Sudafed, it went away.

My advice: if it is not painful, just annoying, take sudafed for at least 3 days and if you don't notice any difference, then make an appointment with a doctor. You probably are experiencing the same things I did.

Then again, it never hurts to see a doctor to be on the safe side. Maybe just call a reliable one first.

 

[ChikkenNoodul]

I had this problem the first three times after I landed from flights that had one stop in the middle on, I learned to equalize early and constantly and it helped such that now it's not a problem. I discovered I had to do the same exact thing the first few dives I did, equalize about every foot or so otherwise I'd have major troubles and lingering 'noises' after the dive.

 

[scubaguy655]

I have this problem occasionally after a week of diving. Kind of an itchy feeling inside my ear. What I have found that works best for me is to put a little bit of Neosporin on a Q-tip and swab the inside of my ear.

Sorry....this is only for the itchy feeling not the other symptoms you describe.

 

[pieohpah]

I had the same experience doing my OW. It hurt for a day and then it got better.

My tips are:

* cup your hands around your ear in the shower to fill up the ear tunnel. Keep for half a minute or so and repeat. I do it every time I shower and haven't had any problems with my ears since.

* equalize on the surface, even before going under water. This is the best ear-advice I've ever got and I haven't had problems equalizing since.

* when diving a lot in salt water, like on a liveaboard. Rinse your ears with fresh water after every dive. This prevents the ear tunnel from swelling due to the salty water, causing problems equalizing.


But I have to agree with everybody else before me. See a doc if it doesn't get better. Good luck!

 

[vel525]

u think it could be water in your ear?