AggieDiver
Contributor
If you want to read my whole medical history, go here:
http://dive.scubadiving.com/talk/read.php?f=1&i=944500&t=944500
Basically my situation is this. I have slight hearing loss (~20-25db below what it used to be) in the low frequencies in my left ear lingering from a case of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. My ENT has said that if he were me, he wouldn't dive with it, but can't tell me any specific medical reason (i.e. the mechanics of how diving puts my ear at risk any more than usual), and appears to be just simply uncertain about diving in general (he is not a diver). I called DAN. Their hotline medic indicated that with significant hearing loss in one ear, diving is generally not recommended due to the possibility of injuring the good ear and losing that hearing.
I can understand and appreciate that recommendation because it makes sense, and it leaves the option up to me to decide if I think the ear with hearing loss is enough to get by with if I lost hearing in my other ear. It also allows me to dive in a manner that is protective of my ears and doesn't unnecessarily risk damaging them (i.e. no diving near walls in current where I could get caught in an up/down current). However, that recommendation from the DAN Medic doesn't give me any info about diving and possible damage to my ear that had the hearing loss (i.e. what are the chances that diving will reverse the recovery).
So my problem now is that I need to talk to an ENT familiar with diving AND sudden hearing loss to get a good understanding of the issues so that I can make an informed decision. I will tell you right now that my inclination is that I would rather take a chance (albeit probably small) of living life with impaired hearing, rather than living life without diving, but I think that is probably partly depression talking. I need solid information so that I can make that decision in a rational, unemotional, and informed way. Dan recommended an ENT that is out of town for the next two weeks, and I need to make the call on cancelling a trip by August 11th. So if anybody (DocV, you reading this?) knows of an ENT besides Dr. Komorn in Houston that has a dive medicine background, I would love a recommendation. I am even willing to go to San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, etc if somebody has a particularly strong recommendation for a doc there.
Thanks for the help!
AggieDiver
http://dive.scubadiving.com/talk/read.php?f=1&i=944500&t=944500
Basically my situation is this. I have slight hearing loss (~20-25db below what it used to be) in the low frequencies in my left ear lingering from a case of idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss. My ENT has said that if he were me, he wouldn't dive with it, but can't tell me any specific medical reason (i.e. the mechanics of how diving puts my ear at risk any more than usual), and appears to be just simply uncertain about diving in general (he is not a diver). I called DAN. Their hotline medic indicated that with significant hearing loss in one ear, diving is generally not recommended due to the possibility of injuring the good ear and losing that hearing.
I can understand and appreciate that recommendation because it makes sense, and it leaves the option up to me to decide if I think the ear with hearing loss is enough to get by with if I lost hearing in my other ear. It also allows me to dive in a manner that is protective of my ears and doesn't unnecessarily risk damaging them (i.e. no diving near walls in current where I could get caught in an up/down current). However, that recommendation from the DAN Medic doesn't give me any info about diving and possible damage to my ear that had the hearing loss (i.e. what are the chances that diving will reverse the recovery).
So my problem now is that I need to talk to an ENT familiar with diving AND sudden hearing loss to get a good understanding of the issues so that I can make an informed decision. I will tell you right now that my inclination is that I would rather take a chance (albeit probably small) of living life with impaired hearing, rather than living life without diving, but I think that is probably partly depression talking. I need solid information so that I can make that decision in a rational, unemotional, and informed way. Dan recommended an ENT that is out of town for the next two weeks, and I need to make the call on cancelling a trip by August 11th. So if anybody (DocV, you reading this?) knows of an ENT besides Dr. Komorn in Houston that has a dive medicine background, I would love a recommendation. I am even willing to go to San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, etc if somebody has a particularly strong recommendation for a doc there.
Thanks for the help!
AggieDiver
