Dear Friends,
I took up diving last fall. I went to Cozumel in January and made 14 dives, the deepest one to 96 feet. I have never had any problems equalizing during descent or ascent. Since shortly after I returned, and for the last three months, my ears have been sort of "bugging me" but never approached anything like an earache. The last week though, they have become increasingly annoying and I have even considered a doctor visit. When I logged on, I read the thread from yesterday about the ear plugs, to help prevent infection. Could I be having some sort of chronic, low grade infection in my ears? My male tendency is to let it ride until it gets really bad, and then do something. Has anyone on the board had any similar probems? All advice is welcome.
Eino Maki
Eino, I'd highly recommend you go see a doctor. It could be an ear infection but worse, it could be a damaged ear drum. I would definately have it checked out to be sure. I got a nasty ear infection last summer that took almost a week to develop. I ended up needing to get antibiotics to clear it up. Since then I have been putting "Auro Dry" ear drops in after every single dive and have not had an infection again. I would like to check into those earplugs though as well. Anyway, good luck and let us know what the doctor says. One more piece of advice, if you are ever in doubt or something doesn't feel right do NOT dive. Two weeks ago I called a dive because I couldn't clear one of my ears due to allergies. The next day I felt better but I still held off diving for the day just to be safe. It's not worth taking a chance.
hey Eino Maki,
see the doc and let us know what he says. Curious.
I've had some ear trouble.. I broke an eardrum once and it was months and months before it felt near the same. There was no pain with the broken eardrum but I did suffer vertigo for a few minutes after I got to the surface, a little bleeding from the ear. And bubbles blew out the ear when I equalized... that was kinda cool. Outta the water for several weeks though, that wasn't so cool.
Fred
I had some ear trouble after a trip to Key West in 2001. Took a week or so to get so bad that I had to go get it checked out. Turns out that my ears are just very waxy, and it was blocked, so water would not come back out once it got in. Now I know better and clean well before diving. Not a pleasant thought, but certainly better than other ear problems.
I had the same problem the last time I went diving (few years ago). I dont think we went below 40feet, but I had soem wax buildup (wasnt thinking about it at the time, now I will make sure I get my ears cleaned out before I go diving..heh) and the pressure kind of pushed the wax farther into my ear, so It took me a while to get it flushed out. Its very annoying not to be able to hear out of your ear for awhile.
If you go to the doctor, they do actually just stick a syringe into your ear canal and flush it with warm water until the "blockage" comes out. It doesn't take very long and you can avoid damaging your ears with Q-tips and the like when trying to make up for lengths of time without swabbing.
I've thought about ordering a syringe similar to the ones used in the doctors offices. Here is a link.
I ended up ordering one of these and received it in the mail today. It works extremely well. It'll pay for itself in no time by eliminating doctors office visits for ear cleaning. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who has earwax buildup problems. It's real easy to use and doesn't hurt at all.
If you are having chronic ear problems, you may want to try one of the ProEar 2000 masks. It has ear muffs connected to the mask strap with tubes that go to the mask (for equalizing purposes). It looks pretty strange but it does keep your ears dry. I was skeptical of it at first, but finally broke down and bought one for my son. He had lots of ear problems as a child, and was still getting infections (at age 17) anytime he went diving. I bought him one of these masks, it keeps his ears dry, and he hasn't had an infection since. I can't explain why, but it also seems to make it easier to equalize.
greenje,
I have a question.. I've heard that they leak around the ears unless you 'bout shave your head.. can you elaborate. My wife has some trouble with one of her ears but I'm wondering about the hair.
Fred