Problem with my ear

[Swedish Scuba Steve]

Hi Everyone,

Roughly 3 months ago i was out barefooting (waterskiing wihout skies) and fell and hit the side of my head in the water and i felt immidietly that my eardrum broke.
I went to the local hospital the day after since i barely could hear and i felt it was water behind the eardrum. I got penicillin and ear drops and after roughly 2 weeks i went to a specialist who couldn't see a hole but with what i told him he still expected it to be there. After another month i went back, they looked for 2-3 minutes, i equalized and they said it looks fine so it should be all good.

BUT, i was in Spain swimming and jumping through the waves when i suddenly fel water in my ear and it started to sting and again i felt like water almost going down in my throat via my ear, just a tiny bit but still. Didn't think to much about it and it only happened once, this was only when swimming and playing so no depth or anything.
This weekend i went to the local swimming hall and swimming and playing with the kids, keeping my head under water is all fine without any issues with my ear. Then i tried to freedive to the bottom of the 5 meter (approx. 15 feet) pool and equalizing fine on the way down but when reaching the bottom i start to feel a bit of a pressure and on the way up it peeps and sparks in the ear and again when coming up i feel like some tiny amount of water goes behind the eardrum and even down my throat.

"Luckily" ive been to busy to do any diving but this starts to worry me, any idea what the issue could be since it should been healed by now if it was just a hole in my eardrum? I have normal hearing and can equalize on the surface almost always without issues.

 

[scubaozy]

Hi Everyone,

Roughly 3 months ago i was out barefooting (waterskiing wihout skies) and fell and hit the side of my head in the water and i felt immidietly that my eardrum broke.
I went to the local hospital the day after since i barely could hear and i felt it was water behind the eardrum. I got penicillin and ear drops and after roughly 2 weeks i went to a specialist who couldn't see a hole but with what i told him he still expected it to be there. After another month i went back, they looked for 2-3 minutes, i equalized and they said it looks fine so it should be all good.

BUT, i was in Spain swimming and jumping through the waves when i suddenly fel water in my ear and it started to sting and again i felt like water almost going down in my throat via my ear, just a tiny bit but still. Didn't think to much about it and it only happened once, this was only when swimming and playing so no depth or anything.
This weekend i went to the local swimming hall and swimming and playing with the kids, keeping my head under water is all fine without any issues with my ear. Then i tried to freedive to the bottom of the 5 meter (approx. 15 feet) pool and equalizing fine on the way down but when reaching the bottom i start to feel a bit of a pressure and on the way up it peeps and sparks in the ear and again when coming up i feel like some tiny amount of water goes behind the eardrum and even down my throat.

"Luckily" ive been to busy to do any diving but this starts to worry me, any idea what the issue could be since it should been healed by now if it was just a hole in my eardrum? I have normal hearing and can equalize on the surface almost always without issues.

Something does not add up, if you had perforated eardrum, they would not have given you ear drops at the hospital. Also, if you get sea water filling into your ear, you would have felt vertigo as cool water will enter the middle ear. Could it be that you had never had a perforated ear drum at the first place? Were you diagnosed in the hospital the next day, did a doctor actually identify the perforation?

 

[Swedish Scuba Steve]

Something does not add up, if you had perforated eardrum, they would not have given you ear drops at the hospital. Also, if you get sea water filling into your ear, you would have felt vertigo as cool water will enter the middle ear. Could it be that you had never had a perforated ear drum at the first place? Were you diagnosed in the hospital the next day, did a doctor actually identify the perforation?

Thats the interesting part, they diagnosed it as a perforated eardrum but they said that they couldn’t see any clear perforation. So he basically just gave me penicillin, ear drops and then sent me to a specialist two weeks later who also couldn’t see any clear perforation. The problem at this time was that the ear drops had filled up my “ear path” so I couldn’t hear. Then they had to suck that out and then I came back 1 month later and they couldn’t see anything so just told me everything is fine and I can swim and scuba dive again.
I did suffer from vertigo the same day I hit my ear since it was plenty of water behind the eardrum and I could even hear when it was going back through the eardrum and out of the ear.
So I agree with you, something is not right and I’m not sure they actually found what was wrong.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

It's possible that you did perforate the eardrum, then perforated it again. The scar tissue that develops when a perforation heals is not as strong as the original tympanic membrane.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Swedish Scuba Steve]

It's possible that you did perforate the eardrum, then perforated it again. The scar tissue that develops when a perforation heals is not as strong as the original tympanic membrane.

Best regards,
DDM

Do you meen when I was just in the waves in Spain? Because that’s the only time it hurted a bit when I got water in it. But no loss of hearing and 10 minutes later it was like normal basically

 

[Pat Regan]

You should see a doctor.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Do you meen when I was just in the waves in Spain? Because that’s the only time it hurted a bit when I got water in it. But no loss of hearing and 10 minutes later it was like normal basically

Yes, possibly. It can be hard to visualize small perforations. You also mentioned pain and the feeling of water running down your throat when free diving in the pool after.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Swedish Scuba Steve]

Thank you for the answers, then i'll go back to the doctor and see what they say.

 

[mcohen1021]

I broke my eardrum in January and I didn't dare dunk my head @ 3 months. I kept it dry for showers, no swimming no scuba for 6 months, and took no risks while waterskiing (I do competitive slalom).

Give it time, it will be 12 months before it's totally healed. But I did scuba in July, August and I'm in cozumel as we speak, no issues, been to 118'

I

 

[TWE]

If you rupture your eardrum it will heal over in 24 hours. I have done this diving. 4 days later I was back under water. The doctor just said take it slow and you should be fine and I was. I still have problems from time to time but just go up a little and slow down going down it works out.