Water in middle/inner ear? Recommendations please..

[cneilk]

Hello! I am getting my scuba OW certification, but after the second day, my ear is clogged and i feel/hear fluid moving around when I hang my head upside down or tilt my head.

I spent the day after taking sudafed and mucinex, but about 12-14 hours after my medicine regimen has begun, the fluid is still there.

I am not in any pain, I can still equalize and have tried to do a long equalization while tilting my head as to hold the ear tube open and let stuff drain.

Either way it's been 24 hours and still my ear is clogged and I feel the fluid in my ear.

I am thinking of going to a clinic either tomorrow or the day after, but I feel they will just tell me to do what I am already doing.

Mainly, I feel as if water is in my ear and I cannot get it out. Thought I'm certain there is no liquid on the outer part of my ear, and I have used swimmers ear drops about 5 times in past 24 hours.

Any other ideas?

Thanks guys!

-Nell

 

[TSandM]

These are pretty classic symptoms of mild barotrauma. When you don't equalize quickly enough or often enough, fluid transudates into the middle ear, causing a sensation of fullness, muffled hearing, or cracking and popping. Sometimes there is pain associated, but often there is not. Unfortunately, there is no terribly effective way to hasten the drainage or reabsorption of that fluid, although people have tried antiinflammatories like ibuprofen, decongestants, and even chewing gum (which works the orifice of the Eustachian tube). I would recommend against diving again until the symptoms have resolved.

 

[cneilk]

I've been reading a lot about that. Some people say it can clear up in a few days, others a month, and other up to 2-3 months.

So I guess I'll just have to sit this out and wait.

I've been holding my nose, blowing and holding it so the tube is open and I'm tilting my head to try to get it to drain, but to no avail. Middle of the day here and it has not gotten better. Still no pain, so until that happens I'll just keep on the meds.

Thanks for the response friend.

 

[Horwin]

My first two years of diving I had the same symptoms as the original poster; and had to get prescription ear drops. Two years ago I bought some diving earplugs at my LDS and I have been ear infection free. I also learned to clear my ears without having to pinch my nose often. I hope this helps.

 

[doctormike]

My first two years of diving I had the same symptoms as the original poster; and had to get prescription ear drops. Two years ago I bought some diving earplugs at my LDS and I have been ear infection free. I also learned to clear my ears without having to pinch my nose often. I hope this helps.

TSandM already said it pretty well, but I thought I would comment here since this misconception circulates commonly on this board. Outer ear problems ("swimmer's ear", wax, etc...) and middle ear problems (barotrauma, middle ear blood or fluid) often have very similar symptoms. They are completely different conditions that have nothing to do with each other, and are treated completely different ways.

As usual, the devil is in the details, and without a good ear exam it can be very hard to distinguish them. Ear diagnosis can be tricky, and most excellent doctors who are not ENT docs or pediatricians see very little ear disease in their practice.

Here's an article I wrote on this a while ago: Ear Injuires