Hello fellow scubaritas and scubañeros,
I am currently on a dive holiday (abroad) where I just got declared unfit to dive, so I have a lot of time to kill and why not ask you if anybody of you ever have had the same experience that I just had. Because it is somewhat odd. This post is probably more about venting, but in both senses.
I had been diving for a few days prior without any complications. I was feeling great. But yesterday was strange. It was a guided NDL dive, nothing fancy. Nothing out of the ordinary during descend or at depth. We also checked my profile afterwards - all good. But. When we ascended, at around 30 feet, I felt a slight pressure in my left ear, plus squeeking noises. I did not exactly know what to make of it yet, when we slowly ascended just a few feet further and I suddenly felt a super intense, sharp pain in my left ear. I knew something was off with my equalization and I initiated a descend, but it did not happen: I heared a loud popping noise from my left ear. Like really loud, as if someone fired a firearm right next to me. I knew this was not good. But at the same time, the pain and noises vanished at once. I actually felt relieved. No dizziness, no nothing. Safety stop, out of the water. I took my hood off and told my buddy to have a look at my ear. He said that there was blood in it.
I was frustrated because I knew the possible implications. Other than that, I was feeling fine. No dizziness, no loss of hearing, no pain - nothing. Also, nothing was coming out of my ear, the bleeding had stopped. It was not even clogged. But we went off to see a doctor.
It was a general physician in a clinic and I told her my story and asked her to have a look at (in) my ear. She did (with "that device"), and said that there was blood in it and that I had teared my ear drum.
It sounded somewhat strange to me, because she made the impression to me that she was judging mainly by the blood in the ear. I asked her if she could clean it a bit, which she refrained from, because she did not want to touch anything in there. Which I can understand.
Anyhow, tearing of ear drum is the diagnosis. And I am behaving accordingly. But it is just so odd, because I am feeling great. No pain, my ear feels good, I hear perfectly well, nothing comes, or came, out of my ear, the blood dried up quickly - just as if nothing happened. I slept well. I don't have, or had, a cold or anything. Zero.
I feel like I should get a second opinion by a professional ENT/dive doc. Is it possible that I somehow trapped air in my ear canal which lead to a reverse blockade and the bubble "exploded" on ascend? Is that a known thing? It's just weird.
And no, I won't do anything stupid without further medical consultation in person.
/venting off
I am currently on a dive holiday (abroad) where I just got declared unfit to dive, so I have a lot of time to kill and why not ask you if anybody of you ever have had the same experience that I just had. Because it is somewhat odd. This post is probably more about venting, but in both senses.
I had been diving for a few days prior without any complications. I was feeling great. But yesterday was strange. It was a guided NDL dive, nothing fancy. Nothing out of the ordinary during descend or at depth. We also checked my profile afterwards - all good. But. When we ascended, at around 30 feet, I felt a slight pressure in my left ear, plus squeeking noises. I did not exactly know what to make of it yet, when we slowly ascended just a few feet further and I suddenly felt a super intense, sharp pain in my left ear. I knew something was off with my equalization and I initiated a descend, but it did not happen: I heared a loud popping noise from my left ear. Like really loud, as if someone fired a firearm right next to me. I knew this was not good. But at the same time, the pain and noises vanished at once. I actually felt relieved. No dizziness, no nothing. Safety stop, out of the water. I took my hood off and told my buddy to have a look at my ear. He said that there was blood in it.
I was frustrated because I knew the possible implications. Other than that, I was feeling fine. No dizziness, no loss of hearing, no pain - nothing. Also, nothing was coming out of my ear, the bleeding had stopped. It was not even clogged. But we went off to see a doctor.
It was a general physician in a clinic and I told her my story and asked her to have a look at (in) my ear. She did (with "that device"), and said that there was blood in it and that I had teared my ear drum.
It sounded somewhat strange to me, because she made the impression to me that she was judging mainly by the blood in the ear. I asked her if she could clean it a bit, which she refrained from, because she did not want to touch anything in there. Which I can understand.
Anyhow, tearing of ear drum is the diagnosis. And I am behaving accordingly. But it is just so odd, because I am feeling great. No pain, my ear feels good, I hear perfectly well, nothing comes, or came, out of my ear, the blood dried up quickly - just as if nothing happened. I slept well. I don't have, or had, a cold or anything. Zero.
I feel like I should get a second opinion by a professional ENT/dive doc. Is it possible that I somehow trapped air in my ear canal which lead to a reverse blockade and the bubble "exploded" on ascend? Is that a known thing? It's just weird.
And no, I won't do anything stupid without further medical consultation in person.
/venting off
