In 1 week Iam going quarry diving to around 50' What should I do now to insure no problems next week? Meds? Is there a special mask to help problems like this? any suggestions please???!!!!
Hi, Jeff...
Unfortunately, there really is no substitute for your own Eustachian tube when it comes to equalizing. If you read the forum here, you will find a lot of discussion regarding the use of decongestants, antihistamines, steroids, etc.. Also, some people have had luck with certain types of masks, although it is not at all clear to me how and if these work.
Medications in general have minor and unpredictable effects on the ability of a diver to clear his or her ears. Of course, you will find many many posts here where people swear by the fact that they took drug x, y or z and they were suddenly able to clear. However, when this has actually been studied in controlled, randomized, scientific studies, the effects do not seem to be that significant (they probably work better for sinus equalization than for ears). Of course, you are dealing with a condition - transient Eustachian tube dysfunction - that has a very hight spontaneous cure rate, so people will often credit whatever they were taking on the day that their ability to equalize returned...
The bottom line is that if you have been able to equalize in the past, you probably will be able to equalize again, and sometimes whatever inflammatory process is making it difficult will just have to run its course. Over the counter decongestants are fairly safe (as long as you don't have any underlying conditions which would cause a problem, such as heart disease), and they may help a bit if you are very congested. Otherwise, you already know what to do: go slow, ascend a bit if you can't clear on descent, practice all the various methods for clearing your ears, and don't be reluctant to scrub a dive if things really aren't going well...
If you haven't seen it,
this video by Dr. Edmond Kay is cited in these threads all the time... If your problems persist, or if there is any residual hearing loss, dizziness, ringing in the ears after you surface, definitely see an ENT doctor.
Good luck!
Mike
