How can I clear my ears after a scuba diving trip?
I went scuba diving for the first time a week ago. I had trouble equalizing my ears during the dive and ever since, my ears have been blocked and won’t clear. How can I get them to return to normal?
I’ve tried sinus rinses and even visited the doctor who told me to take some decongestant, but my nose is not blocked and I have no cold-like symtoms. My ears just won’t pop.
Since you had trouble equalizing you probably did some trauma to the tissues surrounding the middle ear or the eustachian tubes leading from the middle ear to your airway. Unless there was permanent damage, it will just take some time for the tissues to heal. A week sounds like a long time to still be having problems, but if you have been continuing to try to force your ears to equalize you might be still be irritating the damaged tissues and slowing healing.
Normally I would suggest that you see a doctor, but you’ve already done that. My opinion is that you should just give your ears a rest without trying to equalize for a couple more days and see if they start to improve on their own. If not, you might want to step it up a notch and go see an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist for a more detailed exam on your ears. You can also try calling the Diver’s Alert Network non-emergency medical line at 1-800-446-2671 (assuming you are in the USA) to get an opinion from a medical technician or doctor trained in dive medicine.
Another over the counter medication you might want to try is ibuprofen, which can help reduce swelling of the tissue in your ears.
Good luck.
1.yawn
2.tilt your head back open your mout and inhale
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You could try mixing some alcohol and vinegar. Just a little of each. Put drops of that into your ears. The vinegar kills the bacteria and the alcohol dries the ear.
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Use hydrogen peroxide. Pour some down an ear and lay with the ear facing up. It will bubble and drive you crazy for a while, but ride it out for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then turn your head over and let the peroxide drain out. Use a QTip to dry some of the excess and you can even put a little alcohol in the ear to help dry it. You should be able to tell if the peroxide has done any good and you may have to repeat the process a couple of times, but spread it out. If this doesn’t help, then the decongestants would be the next route to take, they will help drain the ear from the inside.
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try swimmers ear drops! you can get them at whatever drug store like walgreens, cvs 🙂
or yeah, put rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and drip it in your ear
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diver and swimmer
Since you had trouble equalizing you probably did some trauma to the tissues surrounding the middle ear or the eustachian tubes leading from the middle ear to your airway. Unless there was permanent damage, it will just take some time for the tissues to heal. A week sounds like a long time to still be having problems, but if you have been continuing to try to force your ears to equalize you might be still be irritating the damaged tissues and slowing healing.
Normally I would suggest that you see a doctor, but you’ve already done that. My opinion is that you should just give your ears a rest without trying to equalize for a couple more days and see if they start to improve on their own. If not, you might want to step it up a notch and go see an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist for a more detailed exam on your ears. You can also try calling the Diver’s Alert Network non-emergency medical line at 1-800-446-2671 (assuming you are in the USA) to get an opinion from a medical technician or doctor trained in dive medicine.
Another over the counter medication you might want to try is ibuprofen, which can help reduce swelling of the tissue in your ears.
Good luck.
References :
NAUI Instructor