New with ear problems

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi, new to Scuba. Had first confined dives this week in local pool (9ft max depth). Did well on first night drills- didn’t particularly like the mask flood/clearing but who does? Had LOTS of trouble equalizing on our first “swim around”. Did a ton of research on clearing techniques, practiced during the next day out of the water before class. That night had more trouble, took it slower, tried the other techniques I had practiced and finally felt ok - no pain or squeezing but not “normal” either. Tried turning my head and tilting the ear up and it cleared immediately but then felt like water rushed in. No pain, in fact it felt great. Same thing happened on the other ear. Had a reverse block coming back up. Not painful, just pressure and that “clogged” feeling. The rest of the descents and ascents that night were much easier. My ears still felt like they had water in them after class and then the next morning. We had one more night of confined classes then off to the quarry this weekend for the OW dives. Decided to go to my primary Dr just for a check before since my ears still felt full and I was having to equalize them even out of the water. She said double ear infection (middle ear - not your typical swimmers ear thing) and possibly a slight sinus infection (She dives but is not dive trained for medicine). Haven’t had an ear infection in 35 years and 15 for a sinus infection. In fact, haven’t been sick with a cold or flu or respiratory virus in over 15 years. Can’t finish the last confined dive and obviously won’t be doing the OW dives this weekend either. I’ll hop into the dive shops class next month (hopefully) probably do the confined dives 2 and 3 over again just to get the practice and have some time practicing equalizing again. I have an appt with a DAN ENT in two weeks once the ear infection is cleared) just for a once over to be sure everything is working right (closest DAN ENT is 2 hours from me). Is there hope to be able to dive and equalize properly ?? Are ear infections a “thing” for divers? I’ve never been prone to ear or sinus infections and don’t have a problems on planes or higher altitudes (do lots of backpacking and hiking). TIA

Hi @Fletch1 ,

You may have started this with some inflammation. It's also possible that, while attempting to equalize during your "swim around drills", you injured the middle ears, which led to inflammation, which led to the next cascade of events. If you got pool water into the middle ear spaces (entirely possible), this could have been the source of infection. It also would have made it easier to equalize in the moment because water isn't compressible, while the air in the middle ear is. Your plan to wait until next month sounds like a good one. Meanwhile, practice your equalization techniques on the surface but do NOT force a Valsalva (pinch and blow) maneuver as this could result in serious, permanent inner ear damage. When diving, equalize early and often, and pre-load your ears on the surface before descent. Hope everything works out for you.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[mike41799]

Awesome thanks Mike! And you have no troubles clearing with the docpros? Also, how does the mask work if comes off under water? I assume you lose the dryness of the ear covers ?

no problems clearing, I still pop my ears while descending and it is very easy. Water in the mask is no problem and I was constantly clearing the fog. I wear the pro plugs as well so if any water does get in it stays out of my ear and if the whole mask was to be ripped off I could get out of the water before my ears fill up. I wear the hood to avoid that extreme.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

First, I would recommend against using those ear plugs. They are not a panacea, but are made for those who get outer ear infections and need to keep water out of their ears. They have a small hole in them, so they do not alleviate the need to clear your ears. Also, swimming ear plugs are absolutely contraindicated, as they can result in a "reverse squeeze," whereby the ear drum ruptures outward due to the increased pressure from ear clearing in the middle ear.

Now, for some techniques:

--start clearing your ears on the surface, and then just a few feet underwater. Take it slow and easy.
--wiggle your jaw as you clear. Blow out slightly into your mask too. Some masks actually do block the nasal passages, and help. Facilitate the clearing process.
--the Val-salvo method does work, and is one reason close-fitting masks are popular (it's easier to pinch the nose in these masks). But, blow very gently out your nose as you wiggle your jaws.
--in the 1950s, when all we had was the oval masks without finger pockets, divers wore a rather loose-fitting nose plug under their mask. That way, they could do a hands-free ear clearing by simply gently blowing out their nose. This started immmediately upon descending.
--descend very slowly. Wait for ear clearing before going deeper.

I hope this helps.

SeaRat