Think I suffered ear Barotrauma last Saturday when getting certified.

[Weekiman]

After my second dive I had mucus and slight bloody stuffy nose. Now my ears are plugged for two days now and won't clear. When I gently blow my nose I feel pressure and hear popping, cracking, and wheezing. Then swallow and the pressure is relieved and it pops or cracks 2-3 times. I only did this a couple times and gently as I figured my ears are inflamed. I did two more dives and had difficulty clearing. I ascended until the pain went away and thought I cleared and continued with dive. I was probably too forceful trying to clear. Feels like I have water in m years or on a plane waiting for them to clear. It's been two days. No hearing loss. No pain really. Will the pressure eventually equalize?

Think I may be one of those people that can't equalize and diving may not be in the cards. Even though in the pool the week before I did fine.

 

[johndiver999]

If you want to take advice from non-medically trained people on the internet....take some pseudoephedrine and ibuprofen for a day or two and see if it clears up. And stop trying to clear your ears, it just blows more germ laden snot in there.

 

[Weekiman]

If you want to take advice from non-medically trained people on the internet....take some pseudoephedrine and ibuprofen for a day or two and see if it clears up. And stop trying to clear your ears, it just blows more germ laden snot in there.

Cool thanks, I'll see what happens. I'll message my Doc as well.

 

[Scraps]

It’s way too early to call your diving career based on this incident, but it would have been prudent to call your subsequent dives, especially when you had difficulty clearing.

New divers often bring attitudes from other parts of their lives where ignoring discomfort and powering through is a virtue. In diving, it’s the opposite.

Medical readiness for a dive is like the weather. If it’s not right, wishing and ignoring won’t make it better.

Learning to block out self and social pressure is an important part of a diver’s development.

You’ve learned at a very low cost why it’s best to call dives when you don’t feel completely right. Hope you feel better soon.

Best wishes,

 

[M-Cameron]

Think I may be one of those people that can't equalize and diving may not be in the cards. Even though in the pool the week before I did fine.

Well I wouldn’t rush to judgement that quickly

EVERY diver has trouble equalizing occasionally, and it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been diving for

Some dives I can hop right in, go straight down and not have an issue..... other dives I have to really take my time going down......and there are some days I can’t clear at all.

Personally I’ve found using ear drops before and after I dive really helps.....they say using ear drops before getting in the water helps “lubricate” the ear drum...... and ear drops after help dry them out......


In OWC we all learn all the terrible dangers of diving, baro trauma, bends, pulmonary embolism, death, DOUBLE DEATH..... and it’s good and necessary to learn that, but it kind of leads to “web-md” syndrome.....diving is a new experience on the body, and when we have a new or uncomfortable feeling, we automatically assume the worst...... when it’s more than likely something not that bad

 

[Weekiman]

It’s way too early to call your diving career based on this incident, but it would have been prudent to call your subsequent dives, especially when you had difficulty clearing.

New divers often bring attitudes from other parts of their lives where ignoring discomfort and powering through is a virtue. In diving, it’s the opposite.

Medical readiness for a dive is like the weather. If it’s not right, wishing and ignoring won’t make it better.

Learning to block out self and social pressure is an important part of a diver’s development.

You’ve learned at a very low cost why it’s best to call dives when you don’t feel completely right. Hope you feel better soon.

Best wishes,

Thanks, and yea that pretty much sums it up. I wanted to finish and get qualified. Hopefully it heals up and I can go practice clearing and see what happens. Still clogged this morning.

 

[Weekiman]

Well I wouldn’t rush to judgement that quickly

EVERY diver has trouble equalizing occasionally, and it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been diving for

Some dives I can hop right in, go straight down and not have an issue..... other dives I have to really take my time going down......and there are some days I can’t clear at all.

Personally I’ve found using ear drops before and after I dive really helps.....they say using ear drops before getting in the water helps “lubricate” the ear drum...... and ear drops after help dry them out......


In OWC we all learn all the terrible dangers of diving, baro trauma, bends, pulmonary embolism, death, DOUBLE DEATH..... and it’s good and necessary to learn that, but it kind of leads to “web-md” syndrome.....diving is a new experience on the body, and when we have a new or uncomfortable feeling, we automatically assume the worst...... when it’s more than likely something not that bad

Good to know, if everything heals up fine. Next time out I'll just practice clearing and see how it goes. Which ear drops do you use? The type that removes wax?

 

[Dan]

I went through the same in the first 20 dives (15 years ago). It took a week or two to slowly drain the liquid out of the inner ears. Then my buddy who has been diving for 25 years told me that it is important to equalize your ears every 3'-6' descent, regardless you feel the pressure or not, for the 1st 30' depth. Ever since I did that, no more water trapped in the inner ears.

If you feel pressure in the ear drums, that means your ear drums have been flex (stress) too much. You may not be able to dive too many times over a few days in the row due to earache. So equalize as often as you can when you descent even though you don't feel the pressure. With that attitude I was able to make 40 dives in 10 straight days in a liveaboard trip without missing a dive.

 

[M-Cameron]

Good to know, if everything heals up fine. Next time out I'll just practice clearing and see how it goes. Which ear drops do you use? The type that removes wax?

They are the alcohol/ glycerine drops.... I think they sell them to alleviate swimmers ear

 

[Weekiman]

I went through the same in the first 20 dives (15 years ago). It took a week or two to slowly drain the liquid out of the inner ears. Then my buddy who has been diving for 25 years told me that it is important to equalize your ears every 3'-6' descent, regardless you feel the pressure or not, for the 1st 30' depth. Ever since I did that, no more water trapped in the inner ears.

If you feel pressure in the ear drums, that means your ear drums have been flex (stress) too much. You may not be able to dive too many times over a few days in the row due to earache. So equalize as often as you can when you descent even though you don't feel the pressure. With that attitude I was able to make 40 dives in 10 straight days in a liveaboard trip without missing a dive.

I went through the same in the first 20 dives (15 years ago). It took a week or two to slowly drain the liquid out of the inner ears. Then my buddy who has been diving for 25 years told me that it is important to equalize your ears every 3'-6' descent, regardless you feel the pressure or not, for the 1st 30' depth. Ever since I did that, no more water trapped in the inner ears.

If you feel pressure in the ear drums, that means your ear drums have been flex (stress) too much. You may not be able to dive too many times over a few days in the row due to earache. So equalize as often as you can when you descent even though you don't feel the pressure. With that attitude I was able to make 40 dives in 10 straight days in a liveaboard trip without missing a dive.

There might be hope for me then. Thanks for the info. I'm not exactly sure how to differentiate pressure on the ear drum versus the blocked water in ear feeling that I have. Maybe it's both. Did anything help the drain?