Hearing loss and freediving

[Fondueset]

Sam, theres a passel of natural treatments for Tinnitus - I honestly don't know if any of them work. You can also get vitamin formulations that are intended to make your ears happy. I do know tinnitus gets worse when I'm low energy or, specifically, if I have digestive problems or drink too much coffee. Its worst in my right ear which had a firecracker detonated near it in high school - I have slight high frequency loss in that ear but am in the normal range in both. Middle ear infections do seem to be a source of problems. My right ear usually gets a little muddy after diving - I think there is some sort of chronic inflammation or fluid build up in that Eustachian tube - but I can always equalize easily and it clears afterwhile. Any equalization technique - Frenzel or Valsalva - has the potential for being applied with too much force - I try to equalize as more of a 'flow' - probably every meter or so on the way down but its always been easy for me.

Chinese medicine relates tinnitus to organ/energy function. I have experienced a reduction after doing a liver cleansing regime. It also gets much worse after extended periods of time on the computer - which goes to the Chinese model as the liver is associated with the eyes.

 

[samdive]

thanks fondueset - stress/health/tiredness are definitely huge factors with mine too - and stress is usually linked to too long on the computer!

someone else recommended gingko biloba - trying that but not helping so far that I can tell!

tried hopi candles too but they don't seem to help either

 

[Haydn]

The doc thinks my deafness occured whilst trying to force a valsalva and damaged the middle ear. The dive in question did not give any pain, just a failed equalise followed by a short ascent to ensure no damage. Same thing happened next dive. Bith equalises were slow and ineffective, so I guess I just pumped up the pressue with the valsalva. Depth was around 10 metres. Being deaf for a while was soooooooo noisy. All I could hear was the tinitus. Now I hear the tinitus all the time, even in a noisy room, it is difficult to hear people speak in such environments. I dont wear my hearing aid much. But am learning sign language (just in case).

 

[smellsfishy]

I came back from a day of spearfishing with Tinnitus in my left ear. In the past it's gotten better over night or within a few days. This time it's been with me for a year or so.

Interestingly when I tilt my head to the right it gets worse. If I tilt it back to the left it gets better. I also notice it gets worse when I lie down, so I tend to notice it most in the morning.

I've been tested for hearing loss and have been told both that I have some higher frequency loss as well as "oh you're normal for your age" (34). Meanwhile I can't hear much in noisy situations. Doh!

 

[Haydn]

It seems that tinitus is a real and serious matter. Certainly freediving has made mine far worse, not debilitating, but I wonder how I would feel if my next dive caused my tinitus to get even 20% worse. For those who do not suffer, try to imagine a constant high pitch whistle in one ear and a slightly different but louder pitch in the other. Never ending. And when your surroundings are quiet at bedtime or when you feel ill, the noises increase in volume and you can listen to them. Then you can pick out different frequencies and even bells and tunes. The only 'cure' is to pay no attention, pretend the noises dont matter, so that your brain learns to pretend they dont exist. A bit like a mother and a baby, the baby makes a noise and the mother is immediatly alert. The trick is not to become alert when the baby cries. As I said, it seems tinitus is something forgotten about when we talk about the dangers of diving. We give more attention to lmc avoidance for instance. Thats like teaching you to avoid the ant but not telling you theres a wasp about.