More ear issues.

[TeqP]

Well, here's my story. I went to Thailand in April and did about 18-20 dives. I didn't have trouble until the last day of the trip on the last couple of dives. It was hard to equalize my ears after going down to 70' and then up to 40' and down to 50-60'. This happened on the last two dives. Once on land I was able to go on the next dive with no trouble until going up and down as stated above.
Ever since when doing multiple dives during a day, I seem to have the same issue on the last dives of the day.
I went to Ear specialist in June who told me to take sudafed before diving and that should help. I tried it and it didn't help. Three weeks ago I did four dives and didn't have trouble until the last dive (#4) but ended up equalizing. The next morning I had pain in my left ear and a clogged feeling. I called DAN and they recommended a specialist in LA (pretty upset with this "specialist"). He has his own company that makes OTC products to help keep the sinuses clear. I, reluctantly, bought them and didn't dive for two weeks. I went to Florida last weekend and did 13 dives. i didn't have trouble clearing until the last day of diving but manage to clear as I went up and then descended. The next morning I woke up with PAIN in my ear and the clogged feeling. I went to my regular Dr and he said I have a slight infection in my outer ear and that my eustachian tube in my left ear is smaller than my right. He gave me Ciprodex ear drops which I am using. I went today to get my sinuses x-rayed and go back next week to the Dr. I never had this trouble before April. Why would it start all of a sudden?
Is this the correct diagnosis or is there something else that the Dr should be looking for? The first two "Dr's" didn't seem to treat anything and no improvement came from their expertise.
Any help would be appreciated. To me, it seems like there may be something else going on. Like I said, I never had any issues before going on my Thailand trip.

Thanks,
Phil

 

[PavoDive]

Well, here's my story. I went to Thailand in April and did about 18-20 dives. I didn't have trouble until the last day of the trip

...

I went to Florida last weekend and did 13 dives. i didn't have trouble clearing until the last day of diving

TeqP:
I nottice a pattern here...

When I do many dives in a row, sometimes I experience difficulty equalizing also. I attribute this to cold, as I have noticed that the colder the water, the sooner I experience the difficulty. It didn't use to happen before, a good day I had difficulty equalizing after 7 days of heavy diving in waters that are cold to my taste (about 77F). On colder places I've experienced this as soon as the second or third dive of the day.
So you can try checking your thermal protection.

Another possibility is that you're not equalizing "on time", and the soreness it produces builds up in those 15/18 dives, to the point it becomes noticeable. Equalizing gently and constantly from the beginning of the descent should avoid the "trap effect" and keep your ears from bothering you.

Happy descents!

 

[MilitantMedic]

Like Pavo said equalizing "on time" i.e. staying ahead of power curve as it were go a long way in preventing pain. I'm sure you're aware of that haivng logged 100+ dives.

Keep this in mind that ascending and descending expose your eustachian tubes to "barotrauma" which is trauma caused by pressure/pressure changes.

It seems that you have these symptoms are multiple days of repetitive diving, makes sense considering this: by making many pressure changes in a relativly short period you are *most likely* stressing the tissue that makes up your eustachian tubes, causing irritation/swelling. As the tissue becomes more irritated it becomes more and more difficult to equalize, and with more pain. Age also plays a role in this as people get older tissues become more susceptable to damage.

If there is no congestion present sudafed WILL NOT help (assuming I have the correct cause). As far as use of sudafed for diving do a search, it's more or less verboten for diving. Sudafed works by "drying" out you sinuses/e tubes making them more susceptable to damage from barotrauma.

As far as infection goes try using Isopropyl Alcohol to clean your ears out after you are done diving for the day. This just help get the water out afterwards, which limits bacterias abilty to grow there.

For prevention of inner ear pain...other than equalizing often I don't believe there is much you can. Keep all pressure changes (ascents/descents) slow, which is always a good pratice, and equalize often.

The preceding is purely hypothetical and severely limited, always follow the MD's directions.

 

[MilitantMedic]

Note on using alcohol, go easy on it, it can dry out your skin making it easier for an infection to take hold.