Hello

[Kilka]

Hey everyone,

I'm from ON, Canada. I'm a complete newbie but would like to get into freediving seriously by next summer.

I stumbled upon this forum looking for information with regards to my ear infection that I got last weekend snorkeling (dove to a max of about 4-5 meters). It's the second time that I have gotten an infection in the same ear, so I went to the doctor and once again got prescribed antibiotics.

I'm looking to resolve this problem (find some things I can do beforehand, hopefully this is preventable). What happened specifically was that I actually felt water sharply leak into my ear (I was not properly equalised). However the doctor said that the eardrum was fine, and that the infection occured outside of the eardrum. My thoughts before were that it was standard for water to get in up to the eardrum (is it?) so it's not clear to me why i got the infection. Further when I asked him what I can do about the problem since it was not the first time, he just said that he recommends not swimming, but I'm sure there are some solutions.

Can anyone help?

Thank you,

Kilka

 

[devondave]

Hello Kilka, welcome to db.
I'll try to answer some of your questions but I'm no expert (that would be my wife, unfortunately she's at work.)
When you say 'got prescribed antibiotics' I assume that's antibiotic ear drops, a standard treatment for outer ear infection (oei), antibiotic tablets are not very effective against oei.
It is important you finish the treatment and keep the ear dry while the ear is infected,
I think that is what the Dr meant by no swimming, hopefully he was not suggesting you give up entirely just because of a repeat case of oei.
As to why you got infected, well, some people are more susceptible,people who suffer from eczema for example.
Another group who are more prone, I'm afraid, are people who have had previous infections.
Most oei's are caused by bacteria or fungus, I guess yours is bacteria.
What you really want is a way to prevent this from happening, the standard prevention is to keep the ears dry, wear a cap if swimming for example.
When it comes to free diving, wet ears are pretty unavoidable and the best you can do is dry them afterwards, this is not as easy as it sounds, most ENT doctors don't recommend using drops to dry the ears (they can cause soreness by themselves), they don't advise using cotton buds either ( cause more ear problems than they solve.)
So what you're left with is sort of tilting the head to one side to drain the water out, with perhaps a shake of the head or two.
There are ear plugs some people use for diving, I don't know anything about these or how they work or if they would be any use in your case, maybe someone will join in who uses them.

A bit rambling and not very conclusive but I hope of some help to you, if you have some more medical related questions I can put them to the missus later.

Dave.

 

[agbiv]

Welcome from TExas! As a former competative swimmer the water in the ear is inevitable. Get some commercially available over the counter ear drops. Mostly acetic acid solution with alcohol which will dry ear and kill bugs. You'll get used to equalizing.

 

[Kilka]

Thank you for the welcome, agbiv and your reply, devon.

Devon, yes, are correct that I got prescribed antibiotic eardrops. When I had the infection last year I got prescribed both oral antibiotics and eardrops (amoxycillin), this doctor said that amoxycillin wouldn't do it and prescribed some other antibiotic eardrops (can't remember the name at the moment) and no oral medication.

I asked him what I can do as a preventative measure in the future, he said wear earplugs, when I said that is not a good idea for diving he just suggested I don't dive. Granted, medcare is a joke here.

Once I recover from this I plan to go diving again of course, and will take care to dry my ear well as you said. What I am worried about though is that on one specific dive I felt water sharply "jolt" into my ear beyond where it goes usually. From there on my ear/head hurt.

What I can't find information on is how far water is supposed to get into the ear. Are you supposed to have a cushion of air between the eardrum and water, or is water supposed to get into the ear up to the eardrum?

Thanks again,

Kilka

 

[Erik]

Kilka you might want to try Doc's Pro Plugs for freedivers. They work great and are cheap. I use them because they make equalizing easier and protect against cold water ear problems ie: bone growth.

 

[devondave]

I am afraid doctors will always tell a patient to stop doing whatever is causing them harm, it's an easy way to prevent illness but sometimes next to useless advice for the patient.
Yes water will penetrate up to the eardrum, I wonder if you have a slightly narrow ear canal and the water is rushing into your ear or more correctly, the air leaving in a bubble, rather than seeping out slowly.
Maybe that's what you are feeling when the water feels like it's going inside your ear, cold water will make it worse, but the only way water can get inside your ear is if the eardrum is perforated.
You can try the drops agbiv suggests, he knows what he's talking about, but please be careful, doctors do not recommend them for good reasons.
I've been on dive boats where people have used them three or four times a day for five straight days, some had no problems, some had ears that became very sore, inflamed even, so take it easy.

Good luck.

Dave.

 

[Erik]

You might also have a wax buildup. Not a bad idea to buy the little kit at the drugstore to flush them out every year or so. You might be surprised what's in there! Too much wax means harder to equalize plus water doesn't drain, bacteria sits around.

When I was a commercial diver I made sure I got warm soapy water in and out my ears in the shower every night, plus did the flush a few times per year. Also did the garlic thing the Persian pearl divers have been doing for 5000 years, when I did get any problems- worked great.

 

[Kilka]

Erik, devon, thank you so much for your help! What a friendly forum!

 

[foxfish]

Also did the garlic thing the Persian pearl divers have been doing for 5000 years, when I did get any problems- worked great.

What's that then?.....

 

[Erik]

Basically you peel a garlic clove to get to the heart, wrap it in tissue paper and stick it in your ear. Works! Saved my ass a few times.

 

[agbiv]

Garlic has antibiotic qualities when uncooked. try rubbing it on minor cuts and see how much faster they'll heal. Also you lessen the chance for infection 'cause no one comes near you except Spaghetti!

 

[Kilka]

In bio a few years back we did an experiment where we smeared culture dishes with E. coli and then dropped samples of different antibiotics (including garlic, onion and other spices) to see which would form the biggest rings. The point of the experiment was to show evidence for people using spices for evolutionary reasons, but without getting sidetracked i remember being amazed that garlic formed the biggest ring of inhibition after penicillin (beating other pharmaceutical antibiotics).

 

[Salehthefish]

Hello and welcome on DB

All best

 

[katrid]

Sorry I missed your intro post Kilka! Welcome!!

Oooh an ear infection??? OUCHIES. I have had swimmer's ear about a squillion times since I learned to swim...I can remember lying on the couch as a child screaming bloody murder while my grandma poured cold antibiotic solution into my throbbing eardrum...dunno if what you have is swimmer's ear, but it sounds like these guys know their stuff!!! Hope it gets better for you asap!!! <3!