rupture ear drum?

[California Diver]

i dropepd into 60 ft and my ear wouldnt clear all of a sudden it went. now if i pinch my nose and blows the air escapes out of my nose. talked to dan and they said i had probably ruptured my ear drum. cant dive for 2-3 weeks, going to see local physician now.... bad times.

 

[discrepancy]

Bummer. Do the docs say a ruptured ear drum heals completely, or does it leave permanent damage?

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

i dropepd into 60 ft and my ear wouldnt clear all of a sudden it went. now if i pinch my nose and blows the air escapes out of my nose. talked to dan and they said i had probably ruptured my ear drum. cant dive for 2-3 weeks, going to see local physician now.... bad times.

Hi california,

Did you mean to say that the air escapes from your EAR rather than your nose? If you had a perforation in the eardrum, it would be possible for air to escape out your ear while pinching your nose.

If you pinch your nose and the air escapes from your nose...perhaps you are pinching the wrong part? ...Ok, let's not go there.

It is possible for air to escape through the tear ducts into your eyes and if you have had a recent upper dental extraction it is possible for air to escape from something called an oro-antral fistula.

Typically, when there is a ruptured eardrum, the discomfort disappears that was due to the pressure on the eardrum and then replaced by vertigo as cold water then rushes into the middle ear. There would likely be a loss of hearing in the affected ear.

You mentioned none of this. Perhaps you would like to enlighten us.

Finally, if you even SUSPECT and eardrum perforation, see the ENT ASAP. While it might spontaneously heal, you are at risk for infection. Until it is healed, you MUST NOT DIVE.

One last possibility...your eustasian tube may have had a plug that simply cleared out suddenly. Now what you perceive as air blowing out your nose may simply be an easy to clear ear.

Finally, and I'm sure you must know this...if your ear isn't clearing and you are blowing harder...don't bet to 60 feet before you solve the problem. Not only are your risking a blown eardrum, hearing loss and infection, you can also perforate either the round or oval windows into your INNER ear. This will cause permanent hearing loss, ringing in the ears and the possibility that you may have to stop diving altougether.

See the Doc.

Laurence Stein, DDS

 

[California Diver]

well i could blow bubbles out of my ear so thats probably not a good sign, i went to the doc and she examined my ear but didnt see a tear however i had some wax in their so she couldnt see the whole thing. im on amoxicillin and will probably stay dry for 2 weeks just to make sure its healed up all the way.

 

[California Diver]

and i didnt mean to get to 60 ft , thats where i hit the bottom after dropping my inflator and desperatly trying to pop my ear while descending at an ever increasing rate, then it went pop all the pressure went away and was replaced with a nice pain. it not so easy to stop yourself with twin lp108s and a full stage under you arm.

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

and i didnt mean to get to 60 ft , thats where i hit the bottom after dropping my inflator and desperatly trying to pop my ear while descending at an ever increasing rate, then it went pop all the pressure went away and was replaced with a nice pain. it not so easy to stop yourself with twin lp108s and a full stage under you arm.

So, lemme get this straight...you're a Teck/D.I.R. type and you had an inflator that you could drop...causing an uncontrolled descent. Couldn't you manually blow into your vest? Couldn't you ditch some weight?

I just wanted to know cause that is exactly the same stupid sh...er....stuff that I do and I'm not lugging huge tanks on my back and one under each arm. I thought you guys were better than that!

BTW I think the minimum time for an ear perforation is 6 weeks to 2 months and only after the doc gives the ok...or you can't blow up balloons with your ears.

Be careful out there.

Regards,

Larry Stein

 

[dbruce]

and i didnt mean to get to 60 ft , thats where i hit the bottom after dropping my inflator and desperatly trying to pop my ear while descending at an ever increasing rate, then it went pop all the pressure went away and was replaced with a nice pain. it not so easy to stop yourself with twin lp108s and a full stage under you arm.

CA,

I had a VERY similar experience on Sun (8/28) DeJa Vue . Except when I went to the doc he said yep you have a rutured ear drum. I am constant pain/pressure in my ear. He said it should be fine in about 2 weeks as well... I feel your pain :11ztongue

Damon

 

[California Diver]

it was a controllable descent i just decided to drop my inflator so i could try to immediately relieve the pressure, looking back i should of just stopped my descent and heading up til it cleared, its ok we all make mistakes.