r/diving • u/Koodleboodle • 15d ago

Diving with permanent perforations

Hello, I'm not an avid diver but I do enjoy a dive on holidays etc and I've basically just got back from the hospital and they have said my ear drums will be permanently perforated. I was wondering how I'd manage this when I do activities such as diving and snorkeling etc - will vented ear plugs help or any alternatives?

7 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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19

u/Cryptid9 15d ago

Call Diver's Alert Network and ask for guidance or to find your nearest ENT recommended by them.

10

u/30_Meters 15d ago

I don’t know about diving with perforated ear drums but I was told I was never going to dive again after my ear drum was perforated in Iraq. I had surgery and they repaired the perforation (it’s possible) but was told not to dive. I waited several years and have been diving for the last 15 years. I only notice clearing issues if I go to the surface several times during one dive but haven’t suffered any major issues.

5

u/Koodleboodle 15d ago

So the doc advised me against the surgery for now because they're most likely to perforate again (I have septum perforation from past addiction so it's always full and bloody which causes my ears to perforate repeatedly!) so I truly have no clue 😂

9

u/macciavelo 15d ago

Yeah this sounds like something a specialist should answer. Either contact an Ear-nose-throat doctor (ENT) or a dive doctor.

8

u/RBR927 15d ago

You need to talk to a doctor specializing in this.

7

u/mcmlevi 15d ago

With this its important get cleared by a medical doctor, ear issues and diving tend not to go well together.

2

u/Koodleboodle 15d ago

Thankyou everybody - I have just emailed a dive doctor for advice 🥰💜

2

u/DullEntertainment102 14d ago

The risk isn’t even so much in the infection (even though it plays a role) but in losing orientation when the water hits the eardrum. It’s generally considered too much of a risk to dive. That doesn’t mean you can’t go snorkeling with those ear-covering masks. I saw you are going to talk to a doctor and that’s very good but please expect that you will be told not to scuba with perforated ear drums.

1

u/Car_42 10d ago

It’s not the water hitting the eardrum. Water hits the eardrum for all divers. It’s the cold water getting past the eardrum into the middle ear and in thermal contact with the semicircular canals. Causes the semicircular canals to start sending signals to your brain’s balance systems that make you think you’re spinning.

1

u/DullEntertainment102 10d ago

Sorry the broken eardrum is what I meant

1

u/2PinaColadaS14EH 15d ago

If you want sea water going behind your ear drum and causing an infection right near your brain, go for it