Yes, an update on my ears lol!

   Well, I went to a doctor finally.  I'm glad I did.  The doctor was super
nice and new a lot about diving.  This guy dives all the time.  I explained
my symptoms and he pretty much diagnosed my problem.  He took a quick look
at my ears and it just confirmed what he suspected.

   Basically, I got the same problem as people have with allergies.  He
said it's very common for new divers to have problems with their ears, like
I am having.  He said when he was training students, it was common for at
least three or four of his students to developed problems with their ears.

   He said this crackling sound I hear in my ears are air bubble popping or
something.  He more or less said my problem is very common with new divers.
I asked if he thought I did major damage to my Eustachian(sp?) tube or
anything else.  He said he didn't think there was any problems according to
my symptoms.  I asked him if he thought I would be able to equalize to 80
feet, he said since I was able to equalize to 40 feet then I should be able
to equalize to 80.  He took a look in my ears, no infection or anything.  He
did see some swelling, he said from fluid behind my ears.  Again, common
with new students.

   Another thing he stressed, descend very slowly.  I told him the dive
books don't stress descending slowly enough, and he agreed.  He said descend
down a line or anchor line, and go very slow, inch by inch, until I'm at the
bottom.

   He gave me a ton of samples so I wont have to fill my prescriptions.  He
game me some medicine that has high dose Sudafed(sp?) in it.  Also some
powerful stuff to snuff up my nose.  He even told me if this stuff works and
I run out before I go on my cruise, to call him up and he would give me some
more samples to take on my cruise, since the prescriptions are $50-$100
each.

   Anyway,  he said some time in a week my ears will equalize and be back
to normal, and he doesn't think I will have any problems equalizing on my
dives in two weeks.

This doctor has dive photos that he's taken posted all over his office.  I
asked him the deepest he's been, he said he's been down in a compression
chamber to 140 feet.

   Who would have thought that I would find a real dive doctor living hear
in the mid-west so far from the ocean!

   So, hopefully this medicine will clear my ears up, and I'll be ready to
do some diving.  Shoot, as long as my ears don't give me trouble, I'm ready
to dive to 1,000 feet! lol!

   Heck, I may even go back to him during the winter or spring when I get
my annual head cold.

   And thanks for the posters here for all the advice and putting up with
my posts.  Ever since I got on the net I have always thought news groups and
bulletin boards are the next best thing to e-mail.

Thanks