I injured the ear backing down a smaller section of cave after a sinkhole. I was trying to get a shot of a diver entering with the sunlight behind her. I succeeded, it was a good shot, but I went from about 15 to 40 without much clearing. I knew what I was doing, but didnt realize just how much it would impact me! Silly me cleared without ascending. It took a bit of force and the ear cleared very sharplyit was a sharp pain in the ear and a ringing for a few seconds. After the dive, I felt like I had hurt the ear and I couldnt hear out of it very clearly.
Im not a doctor and dont know much about ears, but I could still clear just fine so I went on another dive the next day.
Its been a while but I recall that it hurt a bit for a few days but the pain went away, except for some sensitivity and the inability to hear very well, I was fine. I think I went diving again 3 weeks later on a shallow beach dive, and was ok, but the ear stayed bad and sensitive.
I think I was able to hear more clearly when I went diving about 3 weeks after that. I think this second dive was in deeper water, maybe another two day cave trip. After this, the ear got painful again and I really couldnt hear out of it. It had me pretty worried for a week or two, I was having to tell people to stand on my left side so I could converse with them, and I worried I might have permanently damaged my hearing. But, I didnt want to go to a doctor (after it taking almost a year to get three bills sorted out for a 4 hour stay in the ER, Im determined to never go to a doctor unless absolutely necessary. I didnt want to have any hassle over co pays or be fighting to get a payment paid by my insurance for a simple earache, when my research (google) shows most of them clear up on their own and overuse of antibiotics causes super bugs.) so I determined to go in a week if it didnt get better. Well, a week went by and it wasnt any worse, so I decided to wait another week.
That went on for atleast another week or two before it seemed like the ear was a little less painful, but I still couldnt hear well. It gradually got better over the course of a week or two. This entire time, I was fighting the stick-your-pinky-finger-in-your-ear-because-it-feels-like-there-is-something-just-stuck-in-there impulse, and losing pretty badly. Its like the impulse to lick really chapped lips, but there wasnt any Blistex for my ears! Finally, one day my ear felt like there was something tickling it, I reached up and what came out on my finger but the biggest bit of wax Id ever seen. It was perhaps the thickness of several sheets of paper, 3-4, and as big around as a pencil eraser. It was very dark red or brown, it surprised me really. Anyways, a few days later and I felt just fine. Hearing normally, and all that.
I waited another week to get in the water, and several dive trips later Ive had no reoccurrence of the symptoms.
Ive always been able to clear pretty well, even with a cold. I was able to clear relatively well with the ear symptoms, but I do notice the ear that was hurt doesnt clear as easily now. I do wonder what I did to myself, and what sort of ramifications it could have in the long term, and I dive more cautiously now. I love the picture I got, but the 2 months of ear sensitivity and partial inability to hear was not worth it. Its far from my best picture, and even the best picture Ive gotten isnt worth not being able to hear.
I have had a middle ear infection before, which also made it impossible to hear, but this didnt feel the same way. That kept building to a sharper and sharper sort of pain that wouldnt let me sleep, and I did get antibiotics which cleared it up very quickly. This was less jabbing pain, more sensitivity and a similar inability to hear. But, not quite the level of sensitivity Ive felt with outer ear infections before.
Im not a doctor and even if I was I wouldnt advocate diving with a hearing issue. I would definitely advise seeing a doctor, and even more Id advise getting an ENT to be your friend so you dont have to worry about insurance issues. And, get DAN! And, be willing to call them!
