Tinnitus & high frequency hearing loss due to inner ear damage

[capybara]

We were diving in Cozumel last week and on the second day of diving I noticed loud ringing and muffled hearing in one ear after I surfaced. It was a deep dive (100 ft) but I don't really remember a specific injury, I wasn't having significant trouble equalizing and I wasn't congested. I didn't suffer any vertigo. The hearing improved, so I decided to continue diving that week and didn't have trouble equalizing. But I still have some tinnitus and because it persisted, I finally saw an ENT today. I have moderate high-frequency hearing loss on that side and she said that explains the tinnitus, because the brain tries to compensate for the lost hearing by perceiving a noise in that range. She started me on a course of steroids. She said my eardrum and middle ear look fine, so it's likely inner ear damage but she doesn't think it's a perilymph fistula because that would cause major hearing loss across all frequencies. So my questions are, has anyone been in this similar situation and what was your outcome? How long does it take to improve (if it does)? What would cause inner ear barotrauma that is not a PLF? Could it have been DCI? I admit I didn't seek care earlier because we had just gotten there and I didn't want to be told not to dive anymore. If my hearing hadn't improved or I had trouble equalizing I wouldn't have continued (the diving there was great, by the way). Surprisingly, the hearing loss doesn't bother me as much as the darned ringing, which is quite annoying. I just hope my ear gets better by September, because we've already planned a Galapagos trip. She said she wants to see what happens before she decides if I can dive again.

 

[WrmWtrDvr]

Tinnitus apparently arrives as hearing loss accumulates (old age or exposure to loud high frequency sound -just repeating what I've been told). Diving seems to aggrevate mine some. Little things I've found that help some. At all times stay hydrated and avoid caffine, when diving equalize frequently. I find the constant ringing becomes worse if I wait longer than I should to equalize. It becomes a permanent annoyance. I've been offered expensive hearing aids that generate a 'background sound' to override the tinnitus ringing - no thanks for me, so far. Most of the time it fades from my immediate awareness, but its always there. Good luck.

 

[AggieDad]

I flew with a head cold many years ago and blocked a ear. I went to my Doctor and he gave me some medicine and told me to wait until it cleared up. Two days later my eardrum burst and for the last 30 years I have had constant ringing in my ear. Aspirin makes it worse.
I usually take Sudafed when I dive but I have high blood pressure and the Doctor's keep telling me not to. It is the only thing that I can take and be sure that my ears are open. This last year in Cozumel I had a lot of trouble clearing on the second dive each day. Funny thing was that it was my other ear.
I just finished a trip and have had the worst ear block of my entire career. I was basically deaf in my right ear for eleven days. I went to the Doctor twice and was given the options of taking Claritin, Afrin Nasal Spray (short time only) or lancing my ears or having tubes put in. Since I didn't have to fly or dive I chose to wait with the medicine. I am now just starting to be able to clear my ears now.
Visit a good ENT early. If you travel make sure that your medicine supply is full. Try explaining to a Chinese pharmicist that you need something for a blocked ear that will not make you sleepy.

 

[Footslogger]

Had pretty much the same thing happen to me during a week liveaboard experience back in 1995. Never exceeded any limits and was diving with a computer. Nevertheless, after about 4 days of diving I noticed muffling of sound in my left ear and some tinnitus. On the way home I grabbed for a pay phone at the airport and couldn't hear the dialtone in that ear. This was a Sunday and the next day I went in to see an ENT in the Atlanta area. He did routine testing and diagnosed me with sensoryneural hearing loss in the left ear - - not a good thing !!

The ENT specialist was not experienced with Scuba related injuries so I suggested we get DAN on the phone and he totally agreeed. The medical director of Dan (Yancee Mebane) answered the phone and I introduced myself and ran through my experience and the current situation. He asked to speak to the ENT doc and he got on the conference call. Mebane suggested to the doc that I was suffering the hearing loss secondary to inner ear barotrauma. His advice was to place me on a high dose of steroids immediately and then gradually lower the dose over the next week.

Long story short ...my ENT took Mebane's advice and I started on a high does of Prednisone. Over the next 2 weeks I had four audiograms, which began to show improvement and at the 2 week point I had totally regained my hearing and the tinnitus disappeared.

I was lucky. What Yancy Mebane postulated was that a microbubble had ruptured a membrane in the coclea that separates 2 types of endolymph fluid, each of which having a different viscosity. When the 2 fluids mixed they gave rise to symptoms which mimiced nerve related hearing loss. Mebane also reminded me that the dive tables were based on testing with 18 - 21 year old Navy divers and he suggested to me that if I intended to continue diving that I take my age into consideration. Since I had no intention of hanging up my tanks at that point I chose to back off on my bottom time and rep dive frequency. The good news is that I have been diving ever since with NO repeat symptoms and my hearing remains excellent (all things considered). I dive strictly Nitrox these days, stay relatively shallow and limit my dives to 3/day.

'Slogger

 

[scubabear]

ALL good advice, and from glancing at your profile I suspect you may not be too open to mine. Run, don't walk to a chiropractor or at least an osteopath and get a few cervical adjustments. You really have nothing to lose, drive to another city if must Good Luck to you.

 

[steeliejim]

Just happened to run across your message and yes, I had exactly the same thing hapen. I woke up with a feeling of fullness in my right ear, loss of hearing, and ringing. Only, I hadn't been diving for months. I was especially worried because I was planning a dive trip to Cozumel within the month.

I was lucky to get into a specialist right away, and sure enough, he found a real notch in my hearing ability in the mid- to high frequencies. He also found some damage in the ear entry which he believed was due to frequent exposure to cold temperatures.

I had an MRI done (looking for a tumor-negative) and was given steroids as well as anti-biotics. The ringing eased off and hearing seemed to come back a bit. I went back to the doc after about two weeks, and the re-test showed that, while still not back to normal, my hearing was better.

The doc really didn't have a specific cause that he could relate to diving, but recommended I not dive anyway. Well, you can guess how well that advise went over. I figured that since he couldn't specifically pin my problem to diving, I would give it a try.

I always take a Sudafed (one only), the gel cap version that is supposed to not dry you out, because I've have trouble clearing, esp. if I do repeated days of repeated dives , or am free diving for abalone diving where I have to clear every dive.

Anyway, I dove without problems and had no more trouble since, although I wouldn't be surprised if I just have gotten used to some hearing loss.

Eh? What did you say?

Jim

 

[Hisham_Fouad]

Hi Capybara .... Please tell me what happened to you next cause I'm suffering from the same symptems you had ..... Is it permenant ???? Am I going to keep that stupid Tinnitus for good ??

I hope you got better, really .. Please tell me in details what happened to you later ....


Regards

 

[Jax]

Hi Capybara .... Please tell me what happened to you next cause I'm suffering from the same symptems you had ..... Is it permenant ???? Am I going to keep that stupid Tinnitus for good ??

I hope you got better, really .. Please tell me in details what happened to you later ....


Regards

Hisham, this thread is from 2006 - you may not get an answer.

 

[agilis]

Hisham, I sympathize deeply. I've had some degree of tinnitus since I was 24. It began with a very loud explosion shockingly close to me. For a few hours it sounded like someone had hit a giant gong that continued to reverberate. It gradually decreased in volume, but has always been there at some level.

Over the past few years, it has gotten worse, at times almost unbearable. I've seen several ENTs, most recently a highly respected tinnitus specialist. To summarize, he concluded that I suffered some high frequency hearing loss because of the explosion, probably exacerbated by further exposure to ordnance connected noise (unavoidable at the time), possibly further affected by scuba diving experiences over the years, but that there was no way to tell for certain at this point. His assumptions were based almost entirely on my history. He did use some interesting equipment. The recent worsening of my tinnitus is, he believes, age related, caused by additional upper register hearing loss, confirmed by audiologcal exam results that go back many years.

There is no cure in most cases of tinnitus associated with high frequency hearing loss , only palliative measures. These, I'm told, tend to vary among individuals. What they really do is reduce the tinnitus to its lowest possible level by avoiding things that jump up the volume. Some of the things that seem to work for me and lots of other people include getting enough continuous uninterrupted sleep, staying well hydrated, reducing stress levels, avoiding loud music and other high decibel sounds, reducing salt intake drastically, regular exercise, keeping the weight down, eating in a manner that keeps cholesterol levels as low as possible, and regarding asprin and caffeine as poisons of the first magnitude. If all that isn't bad enough, chocolate is frequently another trigger, as is smoking.

I sometimes have episodes of really bad tinnitus. When I do, my ENT prescribes Clonazepam for a couple of weeks. It helps. There are people who have to cope with far worse things. In truth, I have not experienced total silence in decades. As with so many things in life, one adapts.

 

[Hisham_Fouad]

mmmm ... Thanks Agilis for these info ....

I don't know what to say .... Is it fair to have a permenant hearing damage at my first days of diving ?? specially that I haven't suffer from anything in the dive itself .... Just a since of blocking and a little vertigo that went away in an hour ....

May God Help me .... I'll keep searching for solution for this case cause if I didn't then I may never dare to dive again ...