Ear Infections and North Florida Caves???

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Originally Posted by Tracydr

Could you use lemon juice? Bottled lemon juice substituted for the vinegar should do the same thing.

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Seems it would achieve the same thing PH is only .2 different

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Originally Posted by curtschu

Seems it would achieve the same thing PH is only .2 different

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pH is on a logarithmic scale, so 0.2 is greater than it might seem.

I think the pH varies sample by sample. The difference might be a little more, or a little less.

Lemon juice certainly smells a lot nicer than vinegar, but I also think of it as "sticky." Would I rather have a spill of one or the other on my skin w/o washing off? Probably vinegar. Hmmm, I smell an experiment in the offing.

I generally am not as rigorous in my use of ear beer as I ought to be. Wait until evening--yeah, sometimes. Leave my head turned sideways for the recommended 5 mins? Nah. That's 10 minutes both sides. I suspect that following protocol would be way more useful in preventing ear infections than lemon juice vs. vinegar.

FWIW, I did get a mild ear infection on my last trip to FL. Sadly I didn't do as much diving as I wanted, and it wasn't a problem and healed up after a few days.

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Originally Posted by Webmaster

I've had my share, and generally try to use some ear beer right after.

I've also had some middle ear infections though that really sucked. I suspect that it's pretty easy to get water from the reg inhaled back up into the eustachian tubes. This may be more likely sidemounting since we'll be changing regs more regularly.

I bought a nasal irrigator a while back to try and do something about that. It really seems to help, also when the allergies kick in it helps to clear it all out.

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The Nasal Rinse (irrigator) is the best!

Water from the reg into middle ear? hmmm. I'm thinking that it's the equalizing that does it. I seem to get water in my mouth fairly often, sometimes on purpose to clear cotton mouth! But when the air space compresses and you equalize by sending air from mouth into middle ear, airborne bacteria, water, saliva, etc., is also sent into the eustachian tube, which is just not "natural."

skip

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Originally Posted by scubagrunt

Thanks for all the help guys!!! i NEVER EVER except in north florida get ear infections and i dive lake michigan, lake superior the ocean etc. i even dive in our local lake washington which is BLACK and i know they pump poop in there :toimonster:!!! still no ear infections!! interesting that the seemingly clean springs are septic pools!!! ear Beer for me from now on. still in pain!!!:smt013
its coming along.
mel

ps kevin you were ment to call me!!! sorry :(

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It's not the florida cave water. It's your own bodily bacteria. So what is different in florida if it's not the water? The air! It's especially difficult for you northern guys. I dive lake michigan, pacific northwest, etc., and when I travel to those places my sinus's clear up nicely. I return to Tennessee and they clog and get inflamed again. I go to florida, and omg....my sinus's become a quagmire. The more plant life and animal life, the more small gunk floating in the air (even mosquito's have to poop). And all those flower trees and shrubs? As my ENT said, doesn't matter where you used to live, move south and you will suffer allergies sooner or later.

So it's the florida air, full of gunk, pollen, dead skin, alligator detritus, microscopic bird feathers, etc., more than any other state (except maybe southern georgia, south carolina, parts of alabama, mississippi....

I avoid spring, summer, and fall in Central Florida.

skip

That's right it takes a real man to breath Florida Air

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Originally Posted by skip

I avoid spring, summer, and fall in Central Florida.

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I avoid anything north of I-20 from January through December...

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Originally Posted by Slüdge

I avoid anything north of I-20 from January through December...

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LOL , ya you are better off, your kind is not understood in them thar parts.

Another thing that occurred to me is that cave diving may involve more equalizing than open water diving. The ups and downs of cave diving differ from the more square-like profiles of open water. The more the poor ears are subjected to pressure changes may be partly responsible too; the stress on the tympanic membrane (both sides) may lead to ear infections. I suspect that those trips to florida may also involve more dives as visitors try to cram in as much diving in as many different places as possible during their stay. Even if you do "as much" or more diving in home waters up north (and elsewhere), you probably don't do as much in as short a time. And another factor!..... Florida is humid. I can't even get my towel to dry hanging on a line - sometimes I think it gets wetter! Ears don't dry out in Florida like they do in less humid places. So anything you put in them that helps them to dry out is a good thing.

skip

I have a whole bunch of dives in north Florida caves and (knock on wood) I have never had an ear infection of any type.

I don't use ear beer or any other product.

I do pinch and blow to pop my ears repeatedly before diving and after diving for several hours/days. Actually I do it almost every day whether I am diving or not.

Maybe some people are just more susceptible than others.

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Originally Posted by curtschu

That's right it takes a real man to breath Florida Air

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Oh crap! That explains all this hair on my chest! I was thinking it was the hot sauce!