when your body is telling you to stay out of the water.

[adam0321]

So I have been diving for years and dive in the military aswell. I love cave diving and have the good. fourtune to dive a couple times a week. I am in very good shape, run triathlons, lift weights, mountain bike all that good stuff. i eat pretty healthy. Fast food about once every couple of months. I have never had a DCS problem (thought I did but it was a suit squeeze). I very seldom get sick and never take OTC medications if I do. When I do get sick it only last a day or so.

Well I have dove JB quite a bit and every now and then I would notice a little extra snot in my mask at the end of a dive. Never blood just build up. After taking my tanks off I would hop out of the water and when I started walking it would seem like the ground was bouncing up and down. I attributed it to sinus build up and dismissed it just as quick. This happens every now and then and never last more than a few minutes. Well a couple three weeks ago I was doing a 2+ hour dive in Jb and at about 2 hours I noticed my right ear ringing. I thought "ok this is new" checked myself no vertigo, no nausea, nothing other then the ringing. Cleared nothing. So I called the dive did my deco and 7 hours after the dive it was still there. So I thoguht ok this is odd. I was not stuffed up and could clear with no problems. The next day I dove again. (the ringing lasted untill morning) I dove again same kind of dive only this time My right ear again started ringing about 45 minutes into the dive. I tried to ignore it as I was working on something and wanted to finish. I called the dive early came up no problems and the ringing lasted about 28 hours. At this point I do not have any pain no vertigo, no runny nose, and not feeling sick. So I decide to take a few days off diving. About 4 days later I get back in the water and what do you know, right ear ringing about 35 minutes into the dive. I get out no issues with surfacing have my ears looked at by a former instructor and nurse. he sees nothing wrong. I decide to call it a day and go home. The next day I go to medical anf have my ears looked at. No problems with my TM or anything. Doc says everything looks normal. So I take a week off diving. Now this week is full of a work schedule of 17+ hour days and a very "off" sleep schedule( night dives). Well today I go to JB to test out my brand new black ice dry suit( which I freaking hate but thats another story) 16 minutes into the dive my right ear again starts ringing just below the chimney. Wet and pissed I come up only this time I notice my sinus cavity's crackling left and right. the whole way up I hear stuff breaking up. Now as i am sitting hear 7 hours later my right ear is still ringing(although not bad) and my sinus cavity has slight pain when i clear. It might be important to know about a week before all this happened I got a virus that put my on my a## and only lasted 24 hours( my fiance has a very poor imune system and is always sick not to mention I work around a bunch of guys in very close quarters who always seem to be sick). The odd thing is tonight is the first time I have felt liek I had a sinus infection. Along with the pain in my nasal cavity when slearing my ears feel a bit like they do after long time at a high ppo2. In the military we call it dreager ear because of the o2 rebreather called the dreager. But I have no hearing loos vertigo or pain. just the ringing and its only ever been my right ear. I guess my point is just because you dont feel under the weather does not mean you are fit to dive. My body is telling me to stay out of the water and as much as I hate to do it I guess I am going to have to despite this is the last 2 week break I am going ot have before I leave florida. I guess I dont recover as quick as I used to.

[RN]

You're getting old, buddy!

You may not have to stay out of the water. Take a look at the first link. Lots of good dive related information there. The other links just provide general information.

http://www.scuba-doc.com/entprobs.html#Tinnitus

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/003043.htm

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/tinnitus/article_em.htm

[LCF]

With this story and the sinus symptoms, I'd see an ENT doc, and get some audiometry done. You don't want to chance permanent tinnitus -- my husband has it, and it is VERY annoying.

[FW]

... You don't want to chance permanent tinnitus -- my husband has it, and it is VERY annoying.

You can hear it too?

[RN]

You can hear it too?

LOL!!!

[jcook]

Since you've been in the military, were you ever around large explosions or anything of the sort. I noticed ringing some nights/diving and it gets much worse after I got back from my first deployment overseas. My ears seem to be much more susceptible to draeger ear too (I dive a rebreather). I talked to dive doc about it, he said it was something to do with all the pressure from explosions, mortars, etc. which made a big impact on my ringing and subsequent draeger ear/ear infections.

[metaldector]

I've have tinnitus for years. Some sound pitches I can't hear anymore like dive computer alarms or electronic watches. Oh and in the Army I was in mortars and L.A.W., shoulder fired rockets. Plus I listened to loud Rock N Roll as a kid. While the ringing is loud in both my ears it is not loud enough for my wife to hear. Good luck, once you have it, it never goes away.

[adam0321]

well right now it goes away. Like today I can barely notice any ringing. It only comes while diving.

As for the military I have been hit by two IED's been shot, and was in Faluja and ramadi. So my ears are probaly not that great from numerious explosions and gun fire.

Anyone think this is anything other than sinus infection.

[cavediver27]

well right now it goes away. Like today I can barely notice any ringing. It only comes while diving.

As for the military I have been hit by two IED's been shot, and was in Faluja and ramadi. So my ears are probaly not that great from numerious explosions and gun fire.

Anyone think this is anything other than sinus infection.

What you describe is very similar to what I had going on about 3 years ago. I kept diving and putting up with the "creaking and cracking" in the sinus and Eustachian tubes and periodic discomfort and some manageable pain. That led to a reverse blockage in the Eustachian tubes at around 140' after a 290' dive to the Pit in Eagles Nest. That was the scariest thing I ever had in 40 years of diving; 2+ hours of deco with intense pain and vertigo. Ended up with a severe middle/inner ear and sinus infection that had me on multiple different antibiotics for over 6 weeks and then I was out of the water for another 3 months. My ENT told me it was the worst infection he had ever treated and unfortunately my ears and sinus cavities have not been the same since. I love cave diving and I still dive but I have started to think that my underwater days may be numbered. I hope that's not the case but I'm afraid it is a real possibility.

My sincere suggestion; Stay out of the water until you see a good ENT and are totally symptom free.

[adam0321]

I plan to but that was the problem. The only time I had any symptoms was when I dove.

Sent from my Eris