Diving With Perforated Eardrum

[commonerg]

I have a somewhat large perforation in my left eardrum (non-dive related). My ENT says that there is only a slight chance it will heal itself. I'm counting the days until tympanoplasty, but I just can't stay out of the deep blue. Has anyone done any freediving with a perforated eardrum? I've heard mixed reviews for the proear2000.

 

[Seal]

I just saw a positive review of the pro-ear

Here is the link

Link

Don't know if it is any help in a case of injury on the ear but anything is better than drying up on land.

 

[commonerg]

Thanks for the link. I would really like to try one out before I buy it. $150 is a nice chunk of change for something with such mixed reviews. Some people report that it does miracles and some people say that it simply doesn't work.

 

[Jarkko]

Read this thread:

ProEar

cheers,

Jarkko

 

[samdive]

I have dived with perforated ear drums, with and without the Pro Ear.

I found Pro Ear totally useless as it leaked so much. Then I just tried diving with an open ear drum. This felt ok with a small perforation as water did not rush in. With a larger perforation, it was horrible and dangerous as I lost all sense of direction pretty quick. Now I would not recommend anyone dive with a hole in the eardrum due to the risk of infection as well as lose of direction on the dive. I was always lucky and the four or five perforations I have had have always healed up in a couple of weeks. Now my ears are so scarred they don't seem to perf any more (or my technique is better!)

The best thing I tried were Docs Pro Plugs - small ear plugs with a tiny hole so you can equalise. The water never went through the perf with these on and I was able to equalise easily with them in. Might be an idea if you really can't wait to get back in the water until it heals

Sam

 

[wilfdarr]

Wait for the tympanoplasty

I had a very aggressive infection last year (thats right, been out of water for almost a year and feel like a drowning fish). It destroyed 80 % of my eardrum and was quite painful. I myself would not take the risk of swimming with a perf'ed drum, as this could lead to a nasty inner-ear infection, which in turn, I have been told, can not only lead to pain, puss, and more time out of the water, but possibly semi-permenant reoccuring vertigo. You say you have a large non dive related perferation. This leads me to think there is a large chance of getting water in there. these other guys were lucky as they only had small perferations and healed in a couple of weeks. mine didn't heal in 8 months. I can hear again now with that ear, but will be a few more months healing. Good luck with yours

 

[DeepThought]

If on one side you have not waiting till your surgery, and on the other side you have an unknown probability of permanent problems that could also lead to stay dry (and deaf) for the rest of your life, I don't think it's a hard decision.
That's my opinion, regadless how helpful/useless this 'pro-ear' was to other people.
I wish you good luck in that delicate matter.