Suffering a ruptured eardrum is an unfortunate and unnecessary complication of scuba diving. If you understand a couple facts about your eardrum and about scuba diving, it's actually quite easy to avoid.
What is the Eardrum?
The eardrum (also known as the tympanic membrane) is the thin membrane that separates the outer and middle ear. This important structure serves two purposes: It prevents ear infections by serving as a barrier to block bacteria from entering the middle ear, and it also allows you to hear. When sound waves strike the ear drum, it vibrates and creates nerve impulses that travel to the brain, resulting in a hearing sensation.
As you can probably guess, the two main consequences of a ruptured eardrum are possible infection and temporary hearing loss.
How Does an Eardrum Rupture?
Although a ruptured eardrum can be caused by several things, including acoustic trauma, fluid buildup from ear infections, and direct damage from foreign objects, the main concern divers need to be aware of is barotrauma (pressure-induced injury).
The middle ear is an airspace, and all air spaces are affected by changes in pressure. Whenever the pressure outside an airspace is greater than the pressure inside, the outer pressure causes the airspace to compress, unless the imbalance is equalized.
Divers call this compression a squeeze. Another common situation in which you may have felt a squeeze in your ears is being on an airplane. If your ears have ever "popped," it's most likely because of a pressure imbalance.
A squeeze can range from uncomfortable to downright painful. You most likely encounter small changes in pressure everyday; however, you don't need to consciously equalize your ears because of a built-in equalization structure known as the Eustachian tube. This tube connects your middle ear to your throat. When air passes between the middle ear and your throat through this tube, the pressure in both air spaces is equalized. Yawning, chewing, swallowing, and wiggling your jaw can also help with this.
But if this built-in equalization mechanism is so handy, why do divers sometimes run into problems with their ears?
The problem is that the Eustachian tube is an airspace too, so it is subject to changes in pressure just like the ears. As the ambient pressure of the water increases, the tube is compressed or even sealed. Without an open air passage, the middle ear compresses, and the ear drum is sucked inward due to the vacuum effect. If ears aren't equalized and the vacuum effect continues to increase, the ear drum could rupture.
What Can You Do About It?
To avoid perforating your eardrum, you need to equalize your ears often during a dive (about every 5 to 10 vertical feet). You can't yawn, chew, swallow, or wiggle your jaw while you have a regulator in your mouth, but equalizing is still very easy!
Simply pinch your nostrils shut with two fingers while you gently blow through your nose. No air should escape from your nostrils, and you should feel a slight pressure or outward bulging in your ears. Make sure not to do this forcefully, though, or you'll risk blowing your eardrum anyway...exactly what you're trying to avoid!
What To Watch Out For
When you're diving, if you notice any pain, ear ringing or buzzing, or hearing loss, you should end the dive and see a doctor.
A ruptured eardrum takes about 2 to 3 months to heal. After that, you should check with an ear, nose, and throat specialist to see if it is safe to dive again. While your normal doctor would probably use an octoscope to examine your eardrum, the ENT specialist uses a binocular microscope that is capable of detecting much smaller perforations. This is important because higher pressure levels can cause water to jet through even a tiny perforation, so you need to be sure the eardrum is completely healed before you dive again.
If you follow the tips outlined above, you'll probably never have to worry about being sidelined by a ruptured eardrum. Take it slow and follow responsible diving protocols, and you'll enjoy plenty of fun, safe, injury-free diving!
Katie Plotner is the creator and editor of http://www.fun-and-safe-scuba-diving.com a site that specializes in providing new and inexperienced scuba divers with easily-accessible information on scuba diving safety, equipment, certification, and tips for fun diving. A certified diver and lifelong ocean enthusiast, Katie is currently pursuing a degree in marine biology from the University of Rhode Island. She can be contacted at http://www.fun-and-safe-scuba-diving.com/contact.html and welcomes all questions and concerns related to diving.
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