Recent Ear Barotrauma and Tinnitus..PLEASE HELP!

[PeterD1361]

Hello community, I am a 30 year old diver in excellent health, from New York City. I was diving in Barbados last week (going for my Master Diver certification) and was having trouble equalizing in my left ear. Instead of immediately aborting the dive (I was overexcited by being back in the water again), I made the rookie mistake of continuing to force myself down. I supposed I was able to equalize a bit, since I made it to 70 feet (but definitely painful). After the dive, my ear felt "full" and I had ringing/tinnitus in my left ear (backstory: I actually already had chronic tinnitus before the dive from a few years ago, but it was barely noticeable and this seemed to have loudly "re-awakened" the tinnitus). I immediately stopped diving and went to see a doctor on the island. He said my left ear was "full of blood" but should recover on its own with time.

It's now been a week since the incident. My ear feels slightly better, but still doesn't feel "clear" and my tinnitus hasn't really "quieted" down much since. There was obviously middle ear, and perhaps inner ear, batrotrauma (although I didn't experience any vertigo thankfully). I'm just curious if this has happened to anyone else? And how long it took your ear to heal and to become fully "clear" again? Are we talking days, weeks, or months? Did you take steroids (predisolone or prednisone?) or have your ear drained by an otologist or ENT? Curious of how long I should expect this whole process to last and to heal?

I'm quite nervous, and would appreciate any feedback or response from anyone who has had a similar experience! I'm more worried about the tinnitus to be honest, than the middle ear. But they may go hand-in-hand with each other.

Thank you so much!
Sincerely, Peter
New York, NY

 

[McJosh13]

I had a mild barotrauma a while ago with similar symptoms (fullness, difficulty heating, mild tinnutis [on and off]). No blood or anything, MD may said my ear drum looked "irritated". Took a short course of prednisone, and took about 7 to 10 days to clear up. I would imagine a more severe barotrauma would take longer.

 

[agilis]

Get yourself to a specialist immediately.

 

[fmerkel]

As long as your aren't 'sick' (secondary infection), pretty much the only 2 things you can do:
1. Wait it out
2. Take oral steroids to help get through this.This option would have been best if started immediately. The longer you wait, the less useful it is.
Too late to drain it now and not a great option unless you have some compelling reason.

What the outcome will be long term you simply have to wait and see. This is your body healing, the physicians can't help other than a prednisone Rx (reduces inflammation and helps drain the crud), or antibiotics if you get a secondary infection.
NOTE - antibiotics are NOT needed, and NOT called for an uncomplicated middle ear barotrauma unless you get an infection. It's not uncommon for physicians unfamiliar with this problem to Rx antibiotics.

You can get an audiologist to follow and track your damage/healing, but they won't be able to actually do anything about it. No way to predict for sure how long this can take. Figure 2-4 weeks minimum. Stay out of the water until entirely healed and symptoms are either gone or completely stabilized. If unsure or you get 'sick' see an ENT pronto.

You have not indicated dizziness or vertigo so the probability of damage to the inner ear is not too likely.

Go into DAN and do some looking around. There will be a LOT of articles as this is a VERY common problem.

 

[PeterD1361]

Thank you so much! Just curious though, why do you think this aggravated the tinnitus if (we assume for the moment) no further damage to the inner ear? what is the root cause of it? thanks!

 

[fmerkel]

You have a lot of pressure from exudate (blood) pressing on the inner ear (actual hearing mechanism) and the small bones that transmit sound to the inner ear from the eardrum. That's not supposed to be there.You actually won't know what the long term damage is until the acute phase calms down. IMO this kind of thing is another one of those insults we do when we are young that catch up to us when we are older. I'm older....I know. Been there, done a lot of them.

Why would your toes hurt if I stomped on them? . That's kind of what you've done. Don't do it again. You knew better and ignored it.

 

[Killerflyingbugs]

Lol

 

[peeweediver]

Peter:
As we all know, no two medical-factual situations alike, but, here's mine if it helps: Ear barotrauma last June led to tinnitus and an ongoing whooshing sound reflecting external noise. Next up, ear infection 1 week later. Next, ear drum rupture 2 weeks after infection set in. Ear drum healed in 7-10 days. ENT held me out of water for 4 months. Tinnitus ended after about 5 weeks from barotrauma and whoosing sound ended after ear drum rupture. Have done 2 dive trips since the 4 month restriction and all ok with equalization except, still fluid in middle ear and hearing loss in bad ear now 7 months from initial barotrauma. One or both may be permanent. Now both ears pop when swallowing or yawning. Flying is no problem either. Hang in there and do see an ENT.

Rob

 

[doctormike]

Since no one has any idea what is going on in the OP's ear, I would refrain from recommending or arguing against specific medications, or making any predictions about the expected future course of his problem.

In 25 years of being an ENT doc, I have seen wildly different conditions after other good doctors have examined the ear and made a diagnosis. Not trying to sound arrogant, it's just that unless they are an ENT or a pediatrician, most doctors don't have a lot of experience with ears. Furthermore, many different types of conditions (outer, middle and inner ear injuries) can present with similar symptoms.

Peter, feel free to PM me if you want help in arranging for someone in NYC to see your ear, obtain an audiogram and give you specific advice. Happy to chat on the phone as well...