Hello everyone,
I did a freediving course level 1, which finished 5 days ago. And I'm experiencing some issues with my ears and dizzyness / headaches. At first I thought it would pass but its been pretty constant for the last 5 days. I'm flying out of Bali in another 5 days, and I'm wondering if I need to see a docter, and if so, if I need to go to one asap (as in find something in bali tomorrow) or you think I can wait till I get to holland and go to my own doctor who could send me to a dutch ear-doctor.
what happened
Before the course I was just snorkling by myself and just experimented a bit with going down a few meters - as I've done many times before. To my surprise my left ear had some trouble clearing. After trying a bit more, perhaps with a little bit more force, it cleared. I do specifically remember feeling a strange sensation of cold water entering inside my ear while being under water. I didnt think much of it, so didnt mention it in the course, but I do remember it happened again during the course.
On the second day of the course the first session went well, and for me quite deep (around 19m) the second dive session my ears hurt when going down, and though I head a clear intuition that it wasnt going to work and that I shouldnt dive, I did try a few more times under the careful instructions of the instructor to see if it would work better if I would clear more often. But it just started hurting more so after 3 or 4 gentle tries, I stopped.
The issues Im experiencing:
In the evening after the course when I went to lay down in bed I suddenly felt waves pretty strongly, like what you feel on land after being on the sea for a long time. It made me nausious a bit. I did some reading online and found some things about virtigo and water in your ear which may cause such 'waving sensations' and did some techniques to move the water, which helped a bit.
Now we are 5 days further and it hasnt improved much since then. The strong waves were only the first night, but I've been feeling some motion sickness just from watching the screen of my phone or laptop for too long, or from driving the scooter. I have some headaches / feeligns of pressure. And I feel little bits of pain in my ear, today more so than before.
It's nothing too bad, but its affecting me pretty much the whole day, and since it's been pretty constant, and I'll be flying home in a few days, I have some questions:
Questions:
- What do you think it can be? I've been reading about damage to the eardrums, and the other 2 membranes from the middle ear to the inner ear which would be much more serious. I read that this feeling of cold water entering my ears which I decribed above is an indication that the eardrums may have been damaged and water is bypassing them and entering the middle ear. However could that also explain the feelings of motion sickness?
- Do you think I need to check with a doctor? If so do you think I can go to a doctor asap when I go back to the Netherlands in 5 days or should I try to see one here in my last days of Bali? (my experience of doctors and hospitals in other countries is not great, I'd rather go in Holland)
- Do you think it can be a problem with flying? My ears do clear if I want (I'm specifically not trying these days to give them rest), it's just that the left one is more difficult and I may have pushed it too much.
- Any other advice? What to do? Just wait it out and it should pass? I read it could take up to a month for the body to get used to the fluid in the ear and/or move it out. Should I try decongestants? as is suggested sometimes for water in ear. To be clear: I dont feel any water in my ear like you sometimes clearly know you have water in your ear because your hearing is moffled. My hearing seems fine, but the water may be deeper?
- The pain in my ear is minor, but since its more today than before I'm slightly worried about infections?
Thanks in advance for any advice,
René
I did a freediving course level 1, which finished 5 days ago. And I'm experiencing some issues with my ears and dizzyness / headaches. At first I thought it would pass but its been pretty constant for the last 5 days. I'm flying out of Bali in another 5 days, and I'm wondering if I need to see a docter, and if so, if I need to go to one asap (as in find something in bali tomorrow) or you think I can wait till I get to holland and go to my own doctor who could send me to a dutch ear-doctor.
what happened
Before the course I was just snorkling by myself and just experimented a bit with going down a few meters - as I've done many times before. To my surprise my left ear had some trouble clearing. After trying a bit more, perhaps with a little bit more force, it cleared. I do specifically remember feeling a strange sensation of cold water entering inside my ear while being under water. I didnt think much of it, so didnt mention it in the course, but I do remember it happened again during the course.
On the second day of the course the first session went well, and for me quite deep (around 19m) the second dive session my ears hurt when going down, and though I head a clear intuition that it wasnt going to work and that I shouldnt dive, I did try a few more times under the careful instructions of the instructor to see if it would work better if I would clear more often. But it just started hurting more so after 3 or 4 gentle tries, I stopped.
The issues Im experiencing:
In the evening after the course when I went to lay down in bed I suddenly felt waves pretty strongly, like what you feel on land after being on the sea for a long time. It made me nausious a bit. I did some reading online and found some things about virtigo and water in your ear which may cause such 'waving sensations' and did some techniques to move the water, which helped a bit.
Now we are 5 days further and it hasnt improved much since then. The strong waves were only the first night, but I've been feeling some motion sickness just from watching the screen of my phone or laptop for too long, or from driving the scooter. I have some headaches / feeligns of pressure. And I feel little bits of pain in my ear, today more so than before.
It's nothing too bad, but its affecting me pretty much the whole day, and since it's been pretty constant, and I'll be flying home in a few days, I have some questions:
Questions:
- What do you think it can be? I've been reading about damage to the eardrums, and the other 2 membranes from the middle ear to the inner ear which would be much more serious. I read that this feeling of cold water entering my ears which I decribed above is an indication that the eardrums may have been damaged and water is bypassing them and entering the middle ear. However could that also explain the feelings of motion sickness?
- Do you think I need to check with a doctor? If so do you think I can go to a doctor asap when I go back to the Netherlands in 5 days or should I try to see one here in my last days of Bali? (my experience of doctors and hospitals in other countries is not great, I'd rather go in Holland)
- Do you think it can be a problem with flying? My ears do clear if I want (I'm specifically not trying these days to give them rest), it's just that the left one is more difficult and I may have pushed it too much.
- Any other advice? What to do? Just wait it out and it should pass? I read it could take up to a month for the body to get used to the fluid in the ear and/or move it out. Should I try decongestants? as is suggested sometimes for water in ear. To be clear: I dont feel any water in my ear like you sometimes clearly know you have water in your ear because your hearing is moffled. My hearing seems fine, but the water may be deeper?
- The pain in my ear is minor, but since its more today than before I'm slightly worried about infections?
Thanks in advance for any advice,
René
