Diving Earplugs?

Question
Hello,
I'm a springboard diver in my junior year.  In the last fall season, I had constant vertigo/dizziness for the last month of my season.
I finished the season and went straight to gymnastics.
Nonetheless, the vertigo stoppped almost immediately.
But, now that gymnastics has ended, I went back to club diving.  As soon as I started diving (the first day of practice actually), the vertigo came back just as bad as it was before.
I thought it was just water in my ear, so I put some of those drying ear drops in.  That caused my ear to severely burn and ache.
I went to the ear doctor the next day, and he said I didn't have an infection or swimmer's ear.
A couple days later, I got a CAT scan (from the doctor's orders), and it came back normal.  He suggested ear plugs, but when I went to the nurse who made the ear plugs, she refused to make them for me because of diving.
She explained that I could rupture an eardrum and whatnot from the high pressure and high speeds of diving if I wore the earplug she made.
What do you think it is personally, and do you know any earplugs that are made for diving?
Giving up diving would be the absolute last option, but when I would fall off the side of the board during a hurdle or forget which was up after a dive is where I draw the line.  I'm really hoping to dive in college, so any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

Answer
Bridget -

The vertigo problem you are experiencing is common in diving. There are different methods to solve the problem but I do not know of a "diving earplug". I have known divers to wear an earplug that you describe as the one the nurse would not give you along with wearing a tight fitting swim cap to keep the water out.

It could be that you do not have an ear infection and that is why you could not get the plugs.Some health professionals do not understand diving and are afraid to give patients what they are looking for. You could try making one yourself from paraffin wax that will form fit to your ear and then get a swim cap.

There are websites that offer advice on exercises: try http://ivertigo.net/vertigo/vertherapy2.html

www.dizzystop.com has a pill you can take but I do not know how well this will work for you.

Finally, go back to the All Experts website and in the search box, type in vertigo and there will be a long list of answers from professionals in this field you can read. I think that you should ask this question from one of the doctors at All Experts that can give you a better answer than I can.

Good luck and hope you can return to diving soon.