When to abort a dive?

[JudasFm]

I was all set to do my penultimate OW dive for my OWD course. However, when I rolled back into the water, I felt a sudden explosion of pain in my right ear, to the point where it was so bad I could barely focus. I surfaced and swam to the instructor, waiting to see if the pain went away. When it was still there after a few minutes, I said I really didn't want to risk diving even if it was only about 5m, so my instructor went down with the others who were doing the dive and I went back on the boat.

It took about 20 minutes for the pain in my ear to go away, leaving me fine and feeling a little silly (not to mention frustrated!) I've no idea what caused it, unless I somehow hit the water at an awkward angle. My BCD was well inflated, so I don't think I could have gone down too far when I rolled in.

As a novice diver, obviously I don't have the experience to judge things like this very easily. I'm curious: would anyone else have aborted the dive, or do you think I was being over-cautious? I'm redoing that dive again next week, so I'd like to know just in case the same thing happens again Has anyone else had pain like this upon entering the water? And if so, did you go ahead and dive?

As always, thanks to everyone who reads this and opinions/advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[Krazyklaws]

Can't say I've ever experienced the type of pain you've mentioned, but you were absolutely right to sit out in my view.

My buddy and I have a saying. "Better to be up here wishing we were down there than vice versa." We both know that we can sit out or cut short a dive at any time for any reason.

Hope your next dive goes well and your ear is ok x


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[OkByMe]

You might want to get your eardrum looked at. You experienced a concussion slap when your head went under. I suspect you also felt slightly dizzy as well. You may have a perforation.

 

[WhiteSands]

I think you made a good call. No dive is worth losing your hearing for.

 

[RJP]

Do not dive with any kind of ear pain.

Anyone can thumb any dive for any reason. No questions asked.

 

[Steve_C]

If you have pain in the ear, you should not descend. You did the correct thing in aborting this dive and showed mature judgement.

Your guess that you hit at an awkward angle is a good one but I do not know. Like being slapped on the side of the head.

I would see an ear doctor between now and your final OW dive. Just on the remote chance that you damaged your ear drum and you need to give it time to heal before diving again.

Once you are certified, you get to choose when and how you dive. I backroll when necessary, or when it helps me avoid a long line leaving a boat, but it is not my favorite type of entry. Since you have done that entry already, you just did not dive afterwards, the instructor may have the option of calling that skill done and let you do a different entry. This might be good if the eye doc says the ear drum is intact but looks traumatized and diving is ok but be gentle with it.

Or perhaps backrolls are standard in the area you are diving in which case once cleared by the doctor it is time to do another back roll. I generally wear a beanie in all water conditions except cold when I wear a hood. Since that covers the ears it might help protect them a bit.

I see OkByMe posted while I was writing this. Good advice.

Good luck.

PS: Cause was different but I saw a guy who ignored his ear because his kid was taking a class (navigation) and he wanted to accompany her as a shadow on a shallow (7-8 meters) dive even though she had another adult with her (me). Kid did fine. He came out with blood running down his face from his nose.

 

[Dive Bug Bit Me]

I've thumbed a dive for a lot less.

When you feel uncomfortable with the dive, then odds are it's better to abort than press beyond the discomfort.

Stay safe, there are plenty more dives to be done.

 

[sphyrnidus]

Of course it hard to tell why your ear hurt. But a little story: My SO started diving when she was still young, with a group that had some rather "manly" types and as she was one of the very few women she wanted to keep up with the guy's. So one day she experienced pain in her ear going down, but she wanted to continue and did so till her eardrum burst. That kept her from diving for a couple of months and it has been an annoyance ever since to go down, while it wasn't beforehand.
So yes you did the right thing.

 

[JudasFm]

Thanks everyone; that makes me feel a whole lot better. I'm glad to know it was a good decision (like I said, I do tend to err on the side of extreme caution and sometimes I can make mountains out of molehills ) Still frustrating though...I've passed all my theory exams and after this dive, I would have been ready for my 18m.

Backrolls seem to be pretty standard here, at least for OW dives. I actually love entering the water this way, so for me it isn't a problem.

I need to get my medical certificate before my 18m dive so I was planning to wait until then to get things checked out, but I think I'll reschedule next week's dive until I can get to the doctor. I'm only due to go down 5m on that one but better safe than sorry and although there's no pain, my ear is still feeling a little fragile. That way even if I did just bruise the eardrum a little, it'll have had a week or so to recover as opposed to a weekend Fingers crossed it's all okay...

 

[koozemani]

Anyone can thumb any dive for any reason. No questions asked.

That says it all.