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Scuba Forum / General / December 2007Did 3 weeks of scuba stretch my ear drums?
A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. I always promptly, and without any trouble, equalized my ear pressure. Now I feel as though my ear drums have stretched. By that I mean that sometimes I sense a loss in hearing acuity, but as soon as I crack my jaw, or hold my nose and exhale, I hear my ear drums seem to snap back to an alternate location, and my hearing is as acute as ever. Anyone else have this sensation  SignaturePat >A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. > > I always promptly, and without any trouble, equalized my ear pressure. COULD YOU TYPE LOUDER I CAN"T HEAR YOU > Now I feel as though my ear drums have stretched. > By that I mean that sometimes I sense a loss in hearing acuity, but as [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Anyone else have this sensation >A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Anyone else have this sensation Yes I have after doing lots of dives over a couple of days ( holidays especially liveaboard type diving ), don't think the eardrums are stretched ( doubt it as hearing returns to normal ). AN ENT friend of mine, who is not a diver and knows nothing about diving medicine, suggested that the eustachian tube may get stretched and than act as a one way valve allowing pressure to build up in the middle ear as you breathe normally or you may get a venturi effect and pressure drops in the middle ear either way you get that feeling and loss of hearing. Equalising as you'd do descending on a dive or ascending on a plane clears the problems so I have never asked my mate to investigate it further. Anyhow it doesn't seem to be an eardrum problem >A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Anyone else have this sensation I had the problem after a lot of ups and downs in a class. My instructor said it's pretty normal after that many changes over a short period of time. I'm fine now. My ENT, who does dive, says my hearing is perfectly normal -- for someone my age. :-( Things should get back to normal after a short time, but I've noticed since I started diving that I'm more in tune to altitude changes when driving around. I live in the mountains, and often go up and down at least 3000' in an hour. The main thing is to avoid any pain when descending. Pain is not good. > A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Anyone else have this sensation Yeah, it's not uncommon. I just keep equalising on the surface and a couple of hours later everything is OK. As long as there's no pain, I wouldn't stress too much. -Don > A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Anyone else have this sensation sounds like blood behind the eardrum - it should clear up - maybe a decongestant >> A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. >> [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > sounds like blood behind the eardrum - it should clear up - maybe a > decongestant blood behind the ear drum. I would be worried about where it came from and more importantly why >>>A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. >>> [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > blood behind the ear drum. I would be worried about where it came from > and more importantly why I had this when I firt started diving, my doctor whi dives told me it was from smaller blood vessels in the inner. I have not had a reoccurence it cleared up as he said it would. It is always a good idea to have it check out tho.... >>>>A week ago i returned from 3 weeks of scuba every day. >>>> [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > cleared up as he said it would. It is always a good idea to have it check > out tho.... Interesting. Wonder why those blood vessels would burst and why it wouldn't drain from the middle ear down to the mouth/throat, must of clotted I assume. Whatever it doesn't sound good to have that occur glad that it hasn't happened again > >>>>... sometimes I sense a loss in hearing acuity, but as > >>>>soon as I crack my jaw, or hold my nose and exhale, I hear my ear drums [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > assume. Whatever it doesn't sound good to have that occur glad that it > hasn't happened again. Some sort of medication or nose spray that tends to help clear the eustatian tubes would obviously help improve drainage to get the cause of any potential equalization blockage out of there, but this is treating the symptom more so than the root cause. If it is blood behind the eardrum due to small blood vessels rupturing, I would view this as a sign of an 'excessive' pressure gradient being present (to cause the rupture) and thus, that equalization was not done early/frequently enough. My inclination would be to remedy this by equalizing more often, and clearly much earlier than it is believed to be needed ... ie, long before there is perceived pain. -hh >> >>>>... sometimes I sense a loss in hearing acuity, but as >> >>>>soon as I crack my jaw, or hold my nose and exhale, I hear my ear [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > clearly much earlier than it is believed to be needed ... ie, long > before there is perceived pain. if there was blood behind the ear drum I would consider not diving and have a full medical check up. DAN is Ok http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/ >>> >>>>... sometimes I sense a loss in hearing acuity, but as >>> >>>>soon as I crack my jaw, or hold my nose and exhale, I hear my ear [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > have a full medical check up. > DAN is Ok http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/ The only way to know if there is blood behind the eardrum is to have it checked out. Generally caused by pressure stretching the eardrum over the small bones back there. Barotrauma. If that's all it is, and you need to have it checked out to know that, most ENT's will probably tell you not to dive for at least two weeks. The key here is pain. Unless you dive a lot, I think we all feel a little discomfort when ascending and descending. But, you should not feel any pain. If the discomfort starts to get even close to bad go back, up or down, and equalize. I got a barotrauma in a 12' pool. >>>> >>>>... sometimes I sense a loss in hearing acuity, but as >>>> >>>>soon as I crack my jaw, or hold my nose and exhale, I hear my ear [quoted text clipped - 54 lines] > pain. If the discomfort starts to get even close to bad go back, up or > down, and equalize. I got a barotrauma in a 12' pool. IF you have blood behind the eardrum I would be seriously worried. You should not have blood there from the normal equalisation of pressure from diving. Blood in your ears is a big problem and deserves immediate investigation. Pain is not an issue here, you can get over pain but barotrauma can kill you btw the biggest pressure issue in the last 4 metres, you can die holding your breathe from the bottom of a 3 m pool >>>>> >>>>... sometimes I sense a loss in hearing acuity, but as >>>>> >>>>soon as I crack my jaw, or hold my nose and exhale, I hear my ear [quoted text clipped - 65 lines] > btw the biggest pressure issue in the last 4 metres, you can die holding > your breathe from the bottom of a 3 m pool As I said before, my ENT is a diver and did not seem concerned about the blood behind my eardrum. But he is the one who diagnosed it, not me. He also had a preprinted handout on diving and barotrauma. And yes, there is one type of barotrauma in the ear/sinus cavity that can kill you on ascent. It's very rare as most people don't have trouble equalizing on ascent. A good reason to avoid decongestants, or at least make sure they don't wear off "during" your dive. I just make it a point to descend very slowly. One barotrauma was enough for me. You are correct on all points, but most people don't think a 12 foot swimming pool can kill them unless they bang their head on the side or something. Back to the original poster, I'm not a doctor, but I think his experience was normal given the circumstances. Even DAN says, in their First Aid Pocket Guide, "First aid: 1. Avoid further exposure to pressure changes. 2. If dizziness, hearing loss or discomfort persists, seek medical attention." They don't seem to feel it's an acute emergency. (Under Squeeze/Barotrauma [ear, sinus, mask, tooth]). > also had a preprinted handout on diving and barotrauma. And yes, there is > one type of barotrauma in the ear/sinus cavity that can kill you on ascent. Got a cite for that? Matthias >> also had a preprinted handout on diving and barotrauma. And yes, there >> is one type of barotrauma in the ear/sinus cavity that can kill you on >> ascent. > > Got a cite for that? reverse block one of your sinuses blows out you start bleeding and a great whit shark eats you. Quite a rare occurrence but I blame PADI for it. >>>also had a preprinted handout on diving and barotrauma. And yes, there >>>is one type of barotrauma in the ear/sinus cavity that can kill you on [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > reverse block one of your sinuses blows out you start bleeding and a great > whit shark eats you. Quite a rare occurrence but I blame PADI for it. Me too. Matthias >> also had a preprinted handout on diving and barotrauma. And yes, there >> is one type of barotrauma in the ear/sinus cavity that can kill you on [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Matthias Just copied it out of the DAN book. The info may be on DAN's site. As for the handout, it's pretty simple. He recommends Mucinex and Afrin, Mucinex started a few days before diving. Equalize early and often. If you can't equalize come back up. Pain is not good. He told me that he treats far more snorkelers than divers for barotrauma. With air, one can take their time ascending and descending, and you have extra air to equalize. With no other symptoms, he didn't seem to think much of the blood behind my ear, and I know exactly when I did it free diving in the pool. Lot's of pain, but went down too fast and was more interested in getting back up than equalizing. Because of my scuba training I generally exhale all the time I'm underwater - when not breathing through a regulator. He did encourage me to continue diving -- with a tank. Sheldon >>>also had a preprinted handout on diving and barotrauma. And yes, there >>>is one type of barotrauma in the ear/sinus cavity that can kill you on [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Just copied it out of the DAN book. The info may be on DAN's site. Don't think so. There are too much over pressure valve in the sinusses to prevent your head from blowing up. According to the europeen DAN vice president, most severe on spot consequence may be a painful event in the lower half of the face. I had several reverse blocks on one holiday tour. It started always at 11 m. A little depth wiggling did always solve it. Additionally, I used my mask as a suction cup start the snot moving. Mostly worked. Matthias |
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