Not all that uncommon to get tinnittus (ringing ears) and vertigo. Happens to me from time to time, and it has been occuring over the last couple of weeks.

I think its just the normal head cold thing, but when you dive, there is a pressure differential relieved along your eustation (is that how you spell it?) tube. In other words, pressure changes force gunk into your inner ear. With that gunk might come bacteria and virus. This can impact on balance organs - prolly only a little more than the cold would have done otherwise.

I decided to stay out of the water (even during that spell of lovely autumn weather - which might have been the last before winter set in). I take all the usual precautions for colds and wait till the ringing ceases - its diminished a bit so far, and hopefully will be gone in a week or so.

My advice - don't get all that fussed. Apply common sense.

If the problem doesn't go away, go see a doctor.

Ric

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Ric Fallu started spearfishing in Pt Phillip in the early 1960s, and never really stopped

Hi mate, thought I might weigh in on this topic only because I have suffered from tinnitus for years. Its a cunt at first you think you gonna go insane. Mine is totally unrelated to diving, so keep in mind what you are going through is possibly unrelated to your diving. But it could be related, all im saying is don't assume it is. The reality of tinnitus is this: modern medicine knows little to nothing about it. You will find no definitive answers, its is for the most part a mystery to your local GP...a guessing game, like many things. Tinnitus can be caused by a few things including, deteriorating hearing (hearing loss), exposure to loud environments (loud gig, industrial machinery etc), infection/fluid in the ear drums, head trauma.

All I can suggest to you is: 1/ Get a hearing test to see if your hearing is affected. 2/ Go to a docter to see if you have fluid in your eardrums. 3/ Think about loud environments you may have been exposed to or other possible trauma including heavy blows to the head.

For me I found the following: 1/ My hearing was more or less perfect with only minor loss to a very frequency. 2/ No fluid or infection to the eardrum. 3/ I have been exposed to loud industrial environments (probable cause).

But at the end of the day there is NO definitive answer for my condition. Apparently tinnitus can just 'disappear' one day. Im still waiting for that day. It sucks but you will find you get used to it, I don't even care these days and only notice it when I hone in on it.

My best advice to you for managing the syptoms is this: keep your ambient room noise louder than your tinnitus. DO NOT focus on it, keep yourself busy. Its a mental thing, it WILL get on top of you if you let it. Do not expect the doctors to give you the answers...they wont.

Most importantly Its not the end of the world it can be easily managed. People go through a shitload worse than ringing in the ears.

I really hope this helps bro.

Cheers for all the advice, went to The doc Friday and he referred me to a specialist in Frankston with a particular interest in divers.
Done a quick hearing test on Friday and its all good and it's not an infection so it's a mystery so far.

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I don't get sea sick, the sea gets sick of me!

Turns out there's fluid on my inner ear. Taking decongestants to try and shift it. Went for a dive during the week and it didn't make it any better or worse. The ringing seems to be easing off so I might chance a dive at the weekend also.

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I don't get sea sick, the sea gets sick of me!

Hey guys

On the topic of ears..

Mine aren't ringing at all, but I'm starting to get regular ear aches. A mates dad has "surfers ear" where constant cold water and wind can cause a bony growth to occur and push on the canal or something..

Do any of you guys wear any ear protection when you dive?

Thanks
Nath

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"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of spear guns"

I think this is impossible: any ear-plug or wax will be driven to the eardrum by pressure, and a hard shell around the ear lobe would cause the eardrum to bulge (the pressure in the mouth/throat would be higher than the one in the medium ear), and it would then be difficult, if not impossible, to equalize.
Anyway, I presume the hood of a wetsuit should be enough to protect your ear canal.

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Best regards,
Luca.

yeah that's what I figured to..

Water still gets in my hood a little and gets in my ears..

Hmm, seeing the docs today, it might even be a general ear infection because my lymph nodes are swollen to

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"If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of spear guns"

I've looked into a couple of things but came to the conclusion that they are only a last resort if you have a serious issue with your ears.

There is docs pro plugs which help with equalising and there is also specially designed masks that incorporate ear plugs. I don't know enough about them to give any more advice.

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I don't get sea sick, the sea gets sick of me!

You are supposed to allow water into your hood to allow you to equalise easier and prevent pressure buildup to stop things such as reverse squeeze. In fact while doing a freediving course Erez Beatus told myself and my partner to punch a ear hole in each side of our hoods.

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Watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnsjOA1G3wE&sns=em

Sure, but after a while it warms, hence the cold in the ear canal should not be such an issue.

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Best regards,
Luca.

The water in your hood warms and provides a nice environment for bacteria to grow.

After a recent ear infection I've been OTT about cleaning my suit and when diving I let some cold water in the side of my hood. I was thinking of punching a hole in there to allow air to release and fresh water to circulate.

Different people suffer from different ailments so every man to himself I suppose.

Naya, the best way to find out is to try different things and see what works best for you.

I spoke to a guy the other day who dived with an ear plug for 15 years because of a perforated ear drum.

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I don't get sea sick, the sea gets sick of me!

True (I forgot about that), but sea contains limited amount of dangerous bacteria: I reserve ear plug for swimming in a pool.

Ear plug !?? I suppose he does not dive more than, say, 3mt (I cannot imagine something more dangerous than an ear plug pushed into the ear canal)... hmm... could be a specially designed earplug though.

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Best regards,
Luca.

No guessing! They are specially designed, they are not a new thing, theres a company that has been selling them for 30+years (Docs Proplugs which Fitzy has already mentioned). And yes there are world champion 'freedivers' that use them.

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Watch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnsjOA1G3wE&sns=em

Good to know... you learn something new every day.

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Best regards,
Luca.

There is always bacteria in your ear. You just need the right conditions to set off an ear infection. The bay currently has a major problem with E coli so I wouldn't say that there is limited bacteria in the sea.

I'm currently suffering with repeated swimmers ear. I think if I stay out of the water long enough it might clear up completely. The trick is to keep the ear dry until the bacteria dies off to a reasonable level.

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I don't get sea sick, the sea gets sick of me!