My ear hurts.

jdicediver

I am still uncertain what the actual cause is...and am unsure exactly what will work.

I have not even ventured into the tub lately, so I am unsure whether diving would make my ear worse. I do at times have an intense desire to remove it, wrap it in newspaper and gave it to a woman, as well as a desire to do some post impressionalist painting with heavy useage of the color yellow.

6 weeks and counting... I will let you know in the next month or so what finally cures it.

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"Some people shouldn't dive...others shouldn't even get wet".

Chett.L

I am not a doctor however; I have been putting drops of Alcohol, Vinegar and filtered clean water solution in each ear after diving. This kills any stuff in the ears, hopefully. I also use a stopwatch and clear my ears every 15 minutes for a few hours after diving. Hopes this helps.

Chett,L

Dave O

A dive buddy went to the doctor a few days into a week long trip to Cozumel. He had been using the vinegar / alcohol mixture regularly, but his ears still got sore. The doctor told him to stop using the drops, they were irritating his ears. He was better the next day.

YMMV

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jdicediver

The idea is to keep your ears as dry as possible (Docs Proplugs?) drying your ears out as soon as possible after diving (a mixture of 5% acetic acid/85% isopropyl alcohol). Although it strips the cerumen from the ear canal, which provides some protection from bacteria and fungi, this mixture has proven effective. Then dry the ear canal (use a Sahara Dryear?) and try not to dive in contaminated water without a barrier (latex hood).

I understand all this, but sometimes bugs just grow...

A specialist told me once just to keep them dry. Unfortunately, that doesn't help after a bug has formed. The affliction firstly needs to be cured, and then only after the ear canal has properly healed and had a chance to produce a new protective layer of cerumen, the above preventative actions can be applied.

Oh...and also be careful WHAT you stick in your ear! Anything bigger than your pinky is not good. Read the Q-tip box, it specifically states
NOT TO BE INSERTED INTO EAR CANAL.

So then, to recap...otitis externa and diving is kinda like sex and an unwanted pregnancy, a little prevention can go a long way, but isn't always 100% effective.

The sure cure? No sex? I think not.

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Regards;


"Some people shouldn't dive...others shouldn't even get wet".

Mdemon

I don't know if this is of interest, but I thought I'd mention what's happened so far. Perhaps other people will be able to see why these things take so long to fix!

I went to see Quack #1 when my ear hurt and she said there was no hole in the eardrum, just some inflammation at the top of it. Seven days of general antibiotic prescribed and the pain had gone pretty soon. But! On day six the ear blocked up and my hearing was like someone had stuck their finger in my ear and left it there.

Saw Quack #2. "Can't see ear drum. Use warm olive oil every day and we'll get it sucked out at the hospital ENT department."

Ten days later, smelling like a Greek salad and ear blocked, itchy and sometimes a little sore, I was seen by a very nice nurse who used a machine to suck all the muck out of my ears. (REALLY satisfying! It "scratched" the itch perfectly. And she was kind enough to show me the big lump of gunk she removed too! )

So. STILL no ear drum problem. STILL sounds like I have a lost finger in there. Nice nurse has suggested Otitis Externa (as mentioned in previous posts), prescribed Locorten-Vioform antibiotic/steroid ear drops and if it isn't fixed next week when I go back, she'll take a swab.

In the mean time, I'm not allowed to get the thing wet. And I'm gutted I can't get in the water as we have had great weather for a couple of weeks and the water by the shore is the clearest I've seen this year!



Question: If Trigene is so good at killing viruses, bacteria and fungus, why can't I spray that into my ear???!

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"small minds talk about people, Average Minds Talk About Events, GREAT MINDS TALK ABOUT IDEAS!"

The WRONG Attitude will get you killed.

"Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"

DaveP

Hi John,

Afriend of mine tried this when he had an ear infection when we were in saturation a number of years ago. We had to scrape him of the chamber roof ! So I wouldn't recommend it ! All the ear infections that I've had in sat over the years have responded to a hydrocortisone/gentimycin ear drop treatment. The hydrocortisone reduces the inflammation and the gentimycin zaps the infection.

Cheers

Dave

Mdemon

Thanks Dave. Shame, I've got tons of Trigene.

I'm still not sure why antibiotics hasn't already killed the inflammation though. And the Otex I used to soften the wax, which has Hydrogen Peroxide in it...

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www.southwestmafia.com

"small minds talk about people, Average Minds Talk About Events, GREAT MINDS TALK ABOUT IDEAS!"

The WRONG Attitude will get you killed.

"Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"

SteveJ

Bet you wished you'd taken me up on my offer of an appointment in Yorkshire

Mdemon

Yup, starting to. Can I post you a used cotton bud for analysis?

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www.southwestmafia.com

"small minds talk about people, Average Minds Talk About Events, GREAT MINDS TALK ABOUT IDEAS!"

The WRONG Attitude will get you killed.

"Once the agenda-monkeys and perfect-worlders have moved on, perhaps we can do some diving?"

jdicediver

Don't feel bad, I'm still here with you, suffering as well, but this time I've suggested to my GP that it may be a dermatological infarction, not a pathological affliction, and I think I am now on to something. A week ago she looked in a pharmacology listing book and picked out a $70.00/tube steroid X2. The time frame is 2 months and counting...but to H*** with it, I went diving two weekends ago. I will let you know how my super strong bionic ear works later, after I fill the perscription.

__________________
Regards;


"Some people shouldn't dive...others shouldn't even get wet".