Strange sound upon clearing ear?

[MarKon]

Hello all,
I noticed right ear pain following my Halloween dive. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed and treated for Swimmer's ear. I followed the medication directions and it seemed to clear up. However I am now noticing occasional twinges of pain. More concerning is that when I clear my ears, I hear a sound like wind rustling sheets in my right ear, and it seems to clear sluggishly. During the Halloween dive (no dives since), I was having a problem with my hood creating an air-tight seal around my ear (read this shouldn't happen).
I will call/return to the doc on Monday. I'm an RN, I know I took the meds correctly, and I will not follow a wait and see approach. Just wondering if anyone has had experience with this sound upon clearing? No noticable fever, chills, or bloody discharge form the ear. Small amount of clear fluid discharge from right ear infrequently. Hearing has not seemed to be affected. I suspect a return of the swimmer's ear, but am concerned of the possibility of barotrauma, inner ear infection, etc. Any ideas?

 

[k ellis]

I once had done many dives to depths of around 20 feet. I had caught swimmers ear but it went away after I was perscribed XYAL from my doctor. It may help you too not sure but the best thing I can say is it did clear up after about 2 weeks. Did not have discharge that I can remember though. Hope this helps.

 

[ChimChim75]

You should try contacting DAN and seeing a ENT they recommend.

 

[don Francisco]

Sounds like there may be a bit of fluid or buildup at the base of the ear canal, or some swelling near the ear drum. Any distortion of the area near the ear drum can slightly reduce it's normal tension causing those sound effects.

Normally, I'd say give it a few days to clear up, but after three weeks I think a follow up exam is probably in order.

BTW- I'm not a doc, for me it's more of a been there, done that situation.

 

[visibilityunlimited]

As an R.N. you already know that doctors are not all knowing gods (that's why they call it practicing medicine isn't it?) If your doctor is not versed in dive medicine have him give DAN a call and they can probably help out with your "sheets in the wind" problem.
I guess sheets in the wind IS better than wind in the sheets.
As far as the hood squeeze that is still common. You should grab the face seal near the ears and pull it open a few times as you descend.

 

[MarKon]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your input and advice Turned out that the swimmer's ear returned; it is being treated accordingly. The weird sound I heard came from (this is kind of gross) the dried remains of medication. Should have tried the Q-tips earlier, but they said not to stick anything in my ear. Oh well. At least I avoided anything serious.