Right Ear Blocked/Water in Ear?

[Rick Inman]

Below is my post from page 1. If what you have is what I had, dryers (liquid or hair) will not work. It doesn't take longer than a few days for water to dry from your ear if it is in the open outer channel. What you have (and I had) will not be cured by the swimmer's ear drops. For me, it just took time - two weeks!

Oh, oh. Don't do what I did (and don't show my wife this thread).
I made a shallow dive, 0-25', and we did a lot of up and down to see where we were in the river. After the dive, my left ear was plugged. Didn't hurt, but the hearing was terrible, which was bad news 'cause I spent the next week in the studio mixing with one ear. Not good.
Anyway, the ear stayed plugged about two weeks, and I continued to dive - in fact I did 12 dives like that! You think it's hard to hear with a hood on, try it with one ear plugged!
Finally, after the 12th dive, while driving over a mountain pass at 3200', the ear just cleared right up. That was two weeks ago and I've made several dives with no ill effects.
But, like I said, don't do what I did.

 

[WaterWayne]

Y'all are great! Rick, I'm not sure if you felt/heard sloshing in your ear? I tried alcohol today with the idea that the alcohol flushes the water (or the capillary-generated fluid, which I don't think it is.) Then the alcohol should evaporate much more quickly than would the water, right? (No vinegar handy.) I tilted my head horizontally to one side, poured in a capful of alcohol, massaged briefly, and straightened up to let the excess alcohol pour out; then I repeated the procedure. So how long now before the alcohol evaporates? I'll keep you posted, 'cause I know you're breathlessly awaiting..., but it's been a few hours and I'm still hearing/feeling apparently equal sloshing. (Good news was that the alcohol did not pour straight through the other ear.)

I've dived with this before without much problem besides extra time for equalization, but since I'm going for a weeklong trip to Los Cabos in ten days, I'm more concerned than usual.

 

[fmerkel]

Symptoms are simply a maddening, muffled feeling in my left ear, consistently after dives and pool swimming. There is also a very real sloshing of liquid inside my ear. Tilting my head at a slight backward angle drains my right ear OK immediately out of the water, and eventually clears my left ear with the same angle.

So here is my first question: even though I'm pretty sure I'm equalizing OK, could this sloshing fluid be auto-generated by the capillaries, as fmerkel explains? Wouldn't that be generated over time, rather than immediately during the dive? Also arguing against capillary-generated fluid, why does one ear clear so easily, consistently, and the other ear requires several days, but then clears with the same tilting angle?

Second question: I've heard about glycerine as a drying agent -- any comments?
Third question: Probably dangerous, but how about simply using a hair dryer pointed directly into my ear?
Are my ear canals lopsided?

If you are getting it from swimming (and not free diving in the pool then the water is on the OUTSIDE. Tilting the head with sloshing pretty much confirms that. Yes, you can have "lopsided" ear canals. Mine are very crooked and getting water out is a hassle, often one is worse than the other. This is not unusual. Now I use Docs Proplugs (Google it if interested) with the equalizing hole for diving-keeps most of the water out. You can also dry out the canal with the 50/50 alcohol/vinegar mixture. The alcohol cuts the surface tension of the water and helps it drain and dry out. Vinegar is a pretty good disinfectant. This stuff is good to use if you have a tendency to outer ear infections or drainage problems. You can buy [dry ear] klind of stuff at the drug store-it's mostly alcohol and a little glycerine. The glycerine is to soften the harshness of the alcohol's drying effect-a lotion as it were. The pointy applicator is good though for future use. I reuse them.

The capillary leakage is caused by PRESSURE. It happens pretty quick on the biological scale. If it didn't there would be a whole lot more burst eardrums instead of middle ear barotrauma (muffled hearing/pressure/pain). This will not slosh around and will not drain with tilting the head. It's inside and trapped.

NO, no, no on the hair dryer. Use the above mixture. If you are still having problems you can make a pretty safe drying wick by twisting up some toilet paper and carefully working it in. No pencils or paperclips allowed. You want it to be SOFT, just stiff enough to get in, tough enough to not break off in there, and absorbent. This technique should be considered advanced ear digging. I won't be responsible for your ear drums.

Fritz

 

[WaterWayne]

Fritz says, "Yes, you can have "lopsided" ear canals. "
Dang. I'm genetically not-so-gifted.

For the record, my problem is failure to drain left ear after diving, but no other problems with equalization nor swimmer's ear infection, etc. Here is what I can report:

*Alcohol doesn't work.*
Regarding alcohol, it's been 36+ hrs since I double-dosed with rubbing alcohol (2 successive ear purgings), and there is still the same amount of fluid in my ear. The intent is that the alcohol first flushes the fluid, then evaporates quickly. Bear in mind that vinegar would be slower than alcohol to evaporate, and because this *seems to be* an evaporation/drainage issue, I'm not using the vinegar.

*Medical exam completed, no obvious explanation.*
I was checked pre-last-dive by a diving-expert M.D., who also runs the Dallas Medical City hyperbaric chamber. He grilled my diving knowledge and my body, but I passed both exams.

*Tilting my head almost works, then drains after a couple of weeks.*
In the past this has worked after at least ten days, and works immediately post-dive in my right ear. Presently, I've been tilting my head so much I need to see a chiropractor. The water doesn't drain from my left ear. As of 27Aug, this is six days post-dive.

*Ain't swimmer's ear, nor equalization issues.*
No external infection as with swimmer's ear (itching, scaling, redness). Not a pre-diving problem. Regarding equalization, it takes me a few extra moments on later dives to equalize properly, but I indeed equalize OK. (I'm a low-moderate experienced diver, Adv. OW with ~20 dives, lifetime swimmer in Caribbean salt and chorinated water.)

*Audible sloshing, observable fluid eventually drains.*
Drives me nuts. It's like a piece of broccoli stuck in one's teeth. When it drains, the half-teaspoon of fluid is colorless and odorless. I don't know whether it's water from the dive, or capillary-generated fluid as mentioned in this thread. I suspect it's not the latter (thanks again for the info!)

*No toilet paper, no Q-tips will reach.* An ear wick is essentially a long twist of paper or fabric, huh?

*Talcum powder doesn't work to dry the left-over lake.* (Insert laugh here.)
As of two hours ago, poured at least 1 dry ounce of Christmas-gift Old Spice Powder (insert 2nd laugh here) into my ear, after pouring several ounces of liquor internally. Shook head vigorously, smelled nice, no joy. Note to self: investigate smelling nice around women.

*Best news: still nothing falling directly through the other ear.

*2nd Best News: can still do headstands. Ear still didn't drain, though.

 

[Rick Inman]

Fritz says, "Yes, you can have "lopsided" ear canals. "
Dang. I'm genetically not-so-gifted.

For the record, my problem is failure to drain left ear after diving, but no other problems with equalization nor swimmer's ear infection, etc. Here is what I can report:

*Alcohol doesn't work.*
Regarding alcohol, it's been 36+ hrs since I double-dosed with rubbing alcohol (2 successive ear purgings), and there is still the same amount of fluid in my ear. The intent is that the alcohol first flushes the fluid, then evaporates quickly. Bear in mind that vinegar would be slower than alcohol to evaporate, and because this *seems to be* an evaporation/drainage issue, I'm not using the vinegar.

*Medical exam completed, no obvious explanation.*
I was checked pre-last-dive by a diving-expert M.D., who also runs the Dallas Medical City hyperbaric chamber. He grilled my diving knowledge and my body, but I passed both exams.

*Tilting my head almost works, then drains after a couple of weeks.*
In the past this has worked after at least ten days, and works immediately post-dive in my right ear. Presently, I've been tilting my head so much I need to see a chiropractor. The water doesn't drain from my left ear. As of 27Aug, this is six days post-dive.

*Ain't swimmer's ear, nor equalization issues.*
No external infection as with swimmer's ear (itching, scaling, redness). Not a pre-diving problem. Regarding equalization, it takes me a few extra moments on later dives to equalize properly, but I indeed equalize OK. (I'm a low-moderate experienced diver, Adv. OW with ~20 dives, lifetime swimmer in Caribbean salt and chorinated water.)

*Audible sloshing, observable fluid eventually drains.*
Drives me nuts. It's like a piece of broccoli stuck in one's teeth. When it drains, the half-teaspoon of fluid is colorless and odorless. I don't know whether it's water from the dive, or capillary-generated fluid as mentioned in this thread. I suspect it's not the latter (thanks again for the info!)

*No toilet paper, no Q-tips will reach.* An ear wick is essentially a long twist of paper or fabric, huh?

*Talcum powder doesn't work to dry the left-over lake.* (Insert laugh here.)
As of two hours ago, poured at least 1 dry ounce of Christmas-gift Old Spice Powder (insert 2nd laugh here) into my ear, after pouring several ounces of liquor internally. Shook head vigorously, smelled nice, no joy. Note to self: investigate smelling nice around women.

*Best news: still nothing falling directly through the other ear.

*2nd Best News: can still do headstands. Ear still didn't drain, though.

We my friend, at least you have a good attitude! Took me 2 weeks (huh?? whadja say??) to clear up. Keep us posted!