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

[doctormike]

I had bleeding in my ear once. Very painful. It was a long time ago so I don't remember what the ent gave me.

A bad case of swimmer's ear is way up there in the pain scale.. this is especially true if it spreads to the pinna. I'll always remember this one patient- actually, the mother of one of my patients (I normally only treat children, but I do see the occasional adult). She had a really bad swimmer's ear that spread, and we had to admit her to the hospital for intravenous morphine and antibiotics! She said that it was worse than childbirth...

I can't vouch for that directly, but I have heard it compared to other notoriously painful things like kidney stones...

 

[fairybasslet]

Yes, that's a good point for someone who has problems equalizing- alternating positive pressure and negative pressure to break the lock. Valsalva causes increased pressure, which is what you ultimately want (to blow air up the Eustachain tube into the middle ear during descent), but "rocking" the tube like that can help. Another way to drop the pressure is to pinch your nose and swallow (Toynbee maneuver).

Yeah, I heard of that one too. I use everything I can. I have a stubborn left ear. That's the one that had blood in it after diving about 130 fsw around 20 years ago. Also, I had a really bad ear infection in that ear around 7 years ago. Sometimes, a good swallow is all that works, but your mouth gets dry when you're diving. And man, I do drink a lot of water. Tons and tons. And I NEVER pee in my wetsuit.

 

[JohnTalbot]

Yeah, I heard of that one too. I use everything I can. I have a stubborn left ear. That's the one that had blood in it after diving about 130 fsw around 20 years ago. Also, I had a really bad ear infection in that ear around 7 years ago. Sometimes, a good swallow is all that works, but your mouth gets dry when you're diving. And man, I do drink a lot of water. Tons and tons. And I NEVER pee in my wetsuit.

saw a gizmo on scubatoys.com some kind of filter that holds a small amount of water that increases the moisture in the air you breath as it passes by it. Havent tried it, beats having a sponge in your mouth though

 

[Web Monkey]

saw a gizmo on scubatoys.com some kind of filter that holds a small amount of water that increases the moisture in the air you breath as it passes by it. Havent tried it, beats having a sponge in your mouth though

You mean the Appolo Bio-Filter?

Looks like a like a great way to breathe moldy air.

I think I'll skip it.

Terry