Hi Kat,
I had Barotrauma to my right ear and it caused me to cough up blood.
Sorry, should have been more clear -- I just went "back" while practicing skills in a pool on SCUBA. I am actually not a free diver, when I injured my ear, it was while free diving, though I didn't realize it was really injured until I went on SCUBA afterwards, to about 50-ft and apparently caused more injury to it while I had a hard time equalizing.
Thank you.
It sounds like you had some sinus barotrauma as well - the amount of blood produced by ear barotrauma probably wouldn't be enough to cause blood to come out of your mouth. This makes me wonder if you had some sort of underlying condition like a cold or allergies before the dive where you had the initial injury.
I practiced in the pool again yesterday, and had a hard time equalizing, at around the 12-14ft range. A couple times after ascending, I felt a bit dizzy and maybe even vertigo for a second or two as I as getting out.
I also felt off later in the afternoon, like there was water trapped in my ears, and when I blew my nose it seemed like I felt fluids in my ears.
Is this a sign that I may have to end my diving career before it really even started?
Thanks.
It sounds like you experienced what's known as alternobaric vertigo. It happens when one ear clears before the other one does, typically on ascent, and the different pressures on the semicircular canals (the organs of balance in your ears) causes a feeling of vertigo. It probably went away when your ear cleared itself.
The Eustachian tube is the small tube that runs from your nasopharynx to your middle ear. Because of its anatomy, it's easier to equalize your ears on ascent than on descent. If you experienced alternobaric vertigo on ascent during this dive, it means that your Eustachian tube is blocked enough that its ability to allow air to escape from the middle ear is compromised, which would likely make equalizing on descent even MORE difficult. The feeling of fullness that you experienced in your ear may mean that you had another incident of middle ear barotrauma and pulled some blood or serous fluid into the middle ear. Without knowing more details, I'd say there are a few possibilities:
1. You have allergies or other ongoing sinus issues that make it difficult for you to equalize.
2. Your first incident of barotrauma was severe enough to cause scarring in that ear.
3. You have some kind of mechanical obstruction that's causing your problems.
4. You are not actively equalizing your ears enough on descent and may need training on different equalization techniques.
The first three of the above call for a visit to an ENT specialist. Your diving may not necessarily be over, but I'd recommend putting together a thorough history of all of your ear issues and consulting with an ENT before you dive again. The fact that you had problems almost a year after your previous injury, coupled with the fact that you experienced alternobaric vertigo, makes me worried that you'll cause more severe injury to your ear if you dive again without treating whatever is going on with you.
