park86
New
In short I have permanent SSHL in my right ear. It happened Jan 29, 2014 after spending 2 days on a live aboard in Thailand. I did 4 dives the 1st day and 3 the next. All conservative sport dives well within limits at least according to my computer. Max depth 90 for 2 min. 15 min deco stops on all dives. Lost hearing on speedboat ride back to the mainland in both ears but left came back, not 100%, within an hour but right did not. We think I suffered a type II hit based on previous symptoms. Here is the history:
I have been diving since the late 60's, some commercial but mostly sport especially in the last few years. I went to Roatan in 2013. After a couple of dives I had a severe pain in my diaphragm, not stomach followed by fatigue. That should have been a clue but we chalked it off to a dose of tourista because I had mild symptoms of that too. I slept for 10 hours, felt fine, and dove for the next 2 weeks with no problems. Went to Cabo last Oct and did a 2 tank dive which was followed by the same pain and fatigue. Clue # 2 which again I chalked off to tourista since I was in Mexico. Dove 2 days later with no problems. Went to Thailand this Jan and did a 2 tank dive with no problem so signed up for a 2 day live aboard. No problem day 1 or dive 3 1 of 3 on day 2 but got a little of the pain back after dive 2. Being stubborn I did dive 3, felt better underwater, but pain returned after the dive but no fatigue this time. Then the speedboat ride and hearing loss. Went to the hospital and did all the usual treatments, oral steroid followed by intratympanic injections and even 17 sessions in hyperbaric (started day 15 after incident) but no improvement. So now I have just had surgery for a BAHA abutment and will get the processor in August as the situation seems permanent. The BAHA is a bone anchored hearing abutment where the processor will pick up sounds on my deaf side and my good side will hear them through bone conduction. Pretty amazing and effective from what I hear.
The moral of the story is do not ignore any unusual symptoms after diving like I did. We think I had a nerve hit because I also had a little drop foot for a few weeks which has since gone away. My diving days are obviously over.
I have been diving since the late 60's, some commercial but mostly sport especially in the last few years. I went to Roatan in 2013. After a couple of dives I had a severe pain in my diaphragm, not stomach followed by fatigue. That should have been a clue but we chalked it off to a dose of tourista because I had mild symptoms of that too. I slept for 10 hours, felt fine, and dove for the next 2 weeks with no problems. Went to Cabo last Oct and did a 2 tank dive which was followed by the same pain and fatigue. Clue # 2 which again I chalked off to tourista since I was in Mexico. Dove 2 days later with no problems. Went to Thailand this Jan and did a 2 tank dive with no problem so signed up for a 2 day live aboard. No problem day 1 or dive 3 1 of 3 on day 2 but got a little of the pain back after dive 2. Being stubborn I did dive 3, felt better underwater, but pain returned after the dive but no fatigue this time. Then the speedboat ride and hearing loss. Went to the hospital and did all the usual treatments, oral steroid followed by intratympanic injections and even 17 sessions in hyperbaric (started day 15 after incident) but no improvement. So now I have just had surgery for a BAHA abutment and will get the processor in August as the situation seems permanent. The BAHA is a bone anchored hearing abutment where the processor will pick up sounds on my deaf side and my good side will hear them through bone conduction. Pretty amazing and effective from what I hear.
The moral of the story is do not ignore any unusual symptoms after diving like I did. We think I had a nerve hit because I also had a little drop foot for a few weeks which has since gone away. My diving days are obviously over.
