Partial deafness after 2 dives

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penelope1

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Had 2 glorious dives in Papua New Guinea - a week ago, and still feel as if my head is in a bucket - echoing and partial deafness. Any ideas how to clear this? Trust me I followed all the equalizing techniques and didn't go below 10m. Have tried all the nose blowing, massaging, warm water and chewing techniques - now taking Sudafed in an effort to get rid of what is suspected to be moisture in the inner ear. HELP!
Penny
 
I would quickly visit a ear, nose and throat doctor....You should also join DAN if you have not already at which point you can also call their medical staff for free advise. Check out their direct link to medical issues. Also, I will send a message to a SB medical advisor to respond to your request for information. Welcome to Scubaboard!

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/
 
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The overwhelming likelihood is that you have some degree of barotrauma in your ear. This can range from simple accumulation of edema fluid, to damage to the drum or inner ear structures. Since you are still symptomatic after a week, I think it is entirely reasonable to make an appointment with an ENT doc to check things out.

Normal, mild barotrauma can result in the low pressure within the ear more or less sucking fluid out of the surrounding tissues into the air space. This fluid does take time to reabsorb. There is no well proven treatment to hasten the process, although decongestants like Sudafed, and antiinflammatories like ibuprofen are used and probably don't hurt, assuming you don't have any contraindications to their use.

More serious injuries require other treatment, and with the decreased hearing, you definitely deserve a professional evaluation.

As a final note, I know you said you did equalize, but often people don't do it soon enough -- they wait until the discomfort triggers it, and that may been too late to prevent some barotrauma.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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