Middle Ear Barotrauma - lengthy recovery

[Amanda Hand]

Hi there. I am new to freediving and had a dive a few weeks ago where I had several PB in a row. I must have missed an equalization on my last dive because when I went in for another, I felt some ear pain in my right ear. I aborted the dive immediately and called it for the day. As the day went on, I felt as thought I had water in my ears, had some ringing, and my hearing was a little muffled.

I did not have any pain following the dives, but went to the doctor any to get it checked out. She took a look and said that she could see inflammation and fluid but no blood or infection. No diving until pressure and swelling are gone.

I'm taking over the counter sinus medication, allergy medication, Flonase, avoiding alcohol, caffein, staying hydrated, avoiding dairy, sugar, and eating fairly clean. I'm doing everything she said to do, but it seems to be taken quite a while to clear up.

Does anyone have any advice? I have a diving trip to Belize in about four weeks and I really don't want to miss out ...

 

[Heather Reynolds]

I did something similar about two years ago. I couldn't hear out of my right ear for about a month. I thought I was fine until I got vertigo 6 months later for no reason. It was terrible!!!! The Epley Maneuver cured it after emergency room visit. That means the crystals in my inner ear were in the wrong place and I had to do this maneuver to put them back. Print out the Epley maneuver now in case you ever need it!

 

[Amanda Hand]

I did something similar about two years ago. I couldn't hear out of my right ear for about a month. I thought I was fine until I got vertigo 6 months later for no reason. It was terrible!!!! The Epley Maneuver cured it after emergency room visit. That means the crystals in my inner ear were in the wrong place and I had to do this maneuver to put them back. Print out the Epley maneuver now in case you ever need it!

Thank you, Heather!