Safe to dive? Ear surgery 40 years ago...

[-JD-]

@doctormike might have some insight (definately in his wheelhouse) and maybe a referral. Certainly worth getting it checked out!

The annoying thing about the medical form thing is that, if you follow the rules, you are "marked for life" and need to get a yearly Dr.'s signoff, even for conditions that are fully resolved. I certainly get that some chronic conditions require ongoing professional monitoring because the individual is simply not equipped. Others are really only capable of being self-monitored, so the Dr.'s signoff is based on "Feeling OK?" ... "Oh, good." ... (scribbles signature on form).

 

[Pedro Burrito]

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[doctormike]

@doctormike might have some insight (definately in his wheelhouse) and maybe a referral. Certainly worth getting it checked out!

Hard to be precise without knowing what the issue was and what the operation involved. This information might be reconstructed if the OP's husband had an ear specialist (an otologist) examine his ear and check his hearing, you don't necessarily need the original records if they are unavailable.

Yes, someone might refer to ear tubes as a "prosthesis", but I think that's not necessarily what was done. Ossicular prostheses are artificial ear bones which are used to reconstruct the middle ear when there is a problem due to congenital anomalies, cholesteatoma, trauma or other conditions which affect the ossicles.

In general, if someone has an intact eardrum and can equalize in relatively shallow water, it's OK to do dive training with the understanding that (1) equalization may be more difficult in deeper water, and (2) if that happens, the diver must absolutely commit to NOT pushing through this but going slow, stopping, and even ascending a bit to clear. And of course thumbing the dive if they can't equalize.

The one issue that might be relevant here (and why I would recommend a specialist evaluation), is that some prostheses involve the juncture between the middle and inner ears. Stapedectomy for otosclerosis is one example, where the third bone in the chain doesn't vibrate well, so it is replaced with an artificial one. But this may involve a potential leak of inner ear fluid. If you blow out your eardrum from dive related middle ear barotrauma, that usually will heal or can be fixed. But if you get an inner ear injury from diving associated an abnormal communication to the inner ear (i.e. perilymph fistula or after some types of middle ear surgery), you can end up with permanent deafness, as well as severe vertigo at depth.

Now otosclerosis generally presents in early adulthood, but there is something called a congenitally fixed stapes which can also be treated surgically, and may be done in childhood.

So as with most things, the devil is in the details. See an otologist (better than a general ENT doc for this), if possible. If you want to PM me with your location, I may be able to give you a name.

Dive safe!

 

[gert7to3]

Get the ear checked. If approved for diving, use Doc's Pro Plugs or get ProEar Mask to keep the ear dry.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hello,
My spouse and I are thinking of getting our PADI Open Water certification this year. We have both been on one "beginner" dive before. My husband had a prosthesis put in his ear when he was 5. The reason for the prosthesis was that he had frequent ear infections, which created scar tissue, and he had problems hearing as a result. His body rejected the prosthesis, and it punctured his ear drum, so he had corrective surgery two years later (when he was 7). After that, he has never had issues with his ears, and has no problem equalizing on planes, or on the beginner dive (which was at 35 ft). Because of how long ago the surgery was, we cannot find any records of the exact surgery completed (name of the procedure). Our friends who are certified (ranging from open water to rescue diver) say that he should be fine, since he can equalize in a plane and on the beginner dive. Some websites suggest that the medical waiver form is just a liability waiver for the dive shop. Does anyone have any ideas on this? We really want to do it, and we feel like he would be fine, but wanted to get the opinion of some additional experts.
Thanks!!

+1 on what @doctormike said above. If you're in Madison, you're not too far from Milwaukee and Aurora St. Luke's. They have a hyperbaric unit with a long history of diving research and I imagine there's an ENT that the physicians there work with regularly.

Get the ear checked. If approved for diving, use Doc's Pro Plugs or get ProEar Mask to keep the ear dry.

I've heard good things about the Pro-Ear mask. Doc's Pro Plugs do not completely exclude water though.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[though13]

Yeah... we sent a message to the doctor, who just signed the form with no consultation. He isn't an ENT doc, just the regular doctor. I think he knows enough about his medical history to make the decision, though. We did go sign up for our OW class last night, and were told that we will need a new Dr note every year. They even said we should bring the Dr note when going on an excursion to give to the dive shop. That part kind of stinks, but I guess better safe than sorry!

 

[JackD342]

Yeah... we sent a message to the doctor, who just signed the form with no consultation. He isn't an ENT doc, just the regular doctor. I think he knows enough about his medical history to make the decision, though. We did go sign up for our OW class last night, and were told that we will need a new Dr note every year. They even said we should bring the Dr note when going on an excursion to give to the dive shop. That part kind of stinks, but I guess better safe than sorry!

There is no hard and fast rule, but in my experience having a Medical Statement just for diving, not for Con Ed, is the exception and not the rule. Still, having the MD sign-off available certainly can be described as "better safe than sorry."

And if you are in a situation where the form has not been required, you have no concerns, and you don't have one handy, for sure don't start talking about a spotty medical history with everyone on the boat. Any self-respecting operator that hears something of potential concern is quite justified, perhaps even morally obligated, to be sure that you are safe for diving.

 

[gert7to3]

About Doc's Pro Plugs. My experience is that the Pro Plug can keep an ear dry, but only to about 20 ft./6 meters. If your depth goes lower than that, a drop of water can overcome the surface tension across the vent hole. That said, if you were wearing the Doc's Pro Plug inside a Pro Ear Mask, suffered an earcup leak, but did not descend 20 ft/6 meters further, the ear could probably be kept dry. If you had a true ear issue, such as diving with a perforation, you would want to surface.

I have had 2 tympanoplasties. I have around 370 dives, 250 or more were using the Pro Ear Mask. I also wear a Doc's Pro Plug in that ear as well. A belt and suspenders approach.

There was a video out at one time, can't find it now, of a crazy Italian guy blowing bubbles out of his ear scuba diving, while wearing a Doc's Pro Plug....don't do that at home.