I was diving in the Galapagos islands last Sunday (close to Seymour, if you have had the fortune to get to know the archipielago). I had received my Open Water in 2008 and had done another dive in 2012 in Girona, Spain so it had been a while since my last dive. There was a problem in the hotel the night before with a machine that kept me up all through the night (some damned kind of water purification device) so I was close to cancelling the dive at the last minute but the temptation of seeing hammerhead sharks and sea lions at those depths got the better of me. To be honest, the dive company seemed like a bit of a cowboy operation as there was a couple with us who had no certification at all which is, at best, highly questionable (if not illegal). Anyway, during the first immersion, I forgot to equalise until the space between my ears made it absolutely bloody apparent at about 5-6 meters. I know that equalising is one of the basic things that anyone should know about but I guess I was overwhelmed by getting in control of the gear and just getting over my sleepiness.
I equalised after some pain and got out of the water, terminating the first session early. I think that immediately after getting back on the boat there was a small amount of fluid (whiteish yellow) that leaked from my ears but I have had no further leakage. I did the second immersion without incident.
The night after the dive I started to hear ringing (which I think is around 14 kHz) but have not had any other symptoms. I went to a clinic in the Galapagos (Puerto Ayora) the day after and they looked at my left ear with an otoscope and said that it did not look damaged. I have read about barotraumas on this site and others since Sunday, so the worry is about whether it could be an inner ear injury and what to do about it.
I have had tinnitus before following on from a long haul flight. This was highly troublesome for me for a month or so, generally or at times irritating for perhaps the next year and then faded away into the background. At least I know that the same should happen again in this case (though presumably there is some risk of hearing loss).
I am not doing anything to treat it at the moment but I will avoid diving for the moment.
I may look for a specialist clinic if I need to but I will be in Ecuador and Colombia until the 4th of December. In the mean time, is there anything else I can do? Thanks.
I equalised after some pain and got out of the water, terminating the first session early. I think that immediately after getting back on the boat there was a small amount of fluid (whiteish yellow) that leaked from my ears but I have had no further leakage. I did the second immersion without incident.
The night after the dive I started to hear ringing (which I think is around 14 kHz) but have not had any other symptoms. I went to a clinic in the Galapagos (Puerto Ayora) the day after and they looked at my left ear with an otoscope and said that it did not look damaged. I have read about barotraumas on this site and others since Sunday, so the worry is about whether it could be an inner ear injury and what to do about it.
I have had tinnitus before following on from a long haul flight. This was highly troublesome for me for a month or so, generally or at times irritating for perhaps the next year and then faded away into the background. At least I know that the same should happen again in this case (though presumably there is some risk of hearing loss).
I am not doing anything to treat it at the moment but I will avoid diving for the moment.
I may look for a specialist clinic if I need to but I will be in Ecuador and Colombia until the 4th of December. In the mean time, is there anything else I can do? Thanks.