Hey guys,
I just joined the forum today, but have been reading it for a while now. Seems like a great place!
Anyways I read some posts already regarding similar people but last October I was SCUBA diving with some friends and suffered from barotrauma to my inner ear. I was going into an underwater lava tube off of Kona, but the vog didn't agree with my sinuses that day. I suffered from vertigo for a few days, pain and swelling/fluid in the ear, and extreme tinnitus/hearing loss (had to go to the ER). The hearing loss and tinnitus began to get better, but then plateaued. I continued to stay out of the water.
In December I went to the ENT, hopefully to hear (no pun intended) good news, however things didn't go so well. After a few tests it was determined that I did have some hearing loss. He told me it was probably permanent, along with the tinnitus. The worst part was he told me to stay out of the water until I came back for a visit in June.
Well June is here, I just went to my appointment. The tinnitus and hearing loss shows 0 improvement. I did get some good news though, he seems to think that I should be able to dive again. He's going to have me get a MRI to take a better look, but he pretty much cleared me.
I was wondering if anyone else out there suffered a similar problem, and if they were able to overcome it and eventually dive again (even with permanent tinnitus and some hearing loss like me). The tinnitus is kind of annoying, but the worst part is not being able to scuba, freedive or spearfish anymore. I used to free dive and spearfish almost every day (I live in Hilo) and it was absolutely killing me not being able to dive!
I was just looking for any input. I'm currently bored out of my mind in Connecticut, but I'll be returning to Hawaii shortly. I just don't want to make my tinnitus/hearing loss any worse. I understand there is a risk though. Thanks!
-Steve
I just joined the forum today, but have been reading it for a while now. Seems like a great place!
Anyways I read some posts already regarding similar people but last October I was SCUBA diving with some friends and suffered from barotrauma to my inner ear. I was going into an underwater lava tube off of Kona, but the vog didn't agree with my sinuses that day. I suffered from vertigo for a few days, pain and swelling/fluid in the ear, and extreme tinnitus/hearing loss (had to go to the ER). The hearing loss and tinnitus began to get better, but then plateaued. I continued to stay out of the water.
In December I went to the ENT, hopefully to hear (no pun intended) good news, however things didn't go so well. After a few tests it was determined that I did have some hearing loss. He told me it was probably permanent, along with the tinnitus. The worst part was he told me to stay out of the water until I came back for a visit in June.
Well June is here, I just went to my appointment. The tinnitus and hearing loss shows 0 improvement. I did get some good news though, he seems to think that I should be able to dive again. He's going to have me get a MRI to take a better look, but he pretty much cleared me.
I was wondering if anyone else out there suffered a similar problem, and if they were able to overcome it and eventually dive again (even with permanent tinnitus and some hearing loss like me). The tinnitus is kind of annoying, but the worst part is not being able to scuba, freedive or spearfish anymore. I used to free dive and spearfish almost every day (I live in Hilo) and it was absolutely killing me not being able to dive!
I was just looking for any input. I'm currently bored out of my mind in Connecticut, but I'll be returning to Hawaii shortly. I just don't want to make my tinnitus/hearing loss any worse. I understand there is a risk though. Thanks!
-Steve