Barotrauma and Tinnitus From Springboard Diving

Question
I am and adult taking diving lessons, for the time being only from the 1 meter springboard.  Three months ago, for some reason, I was unable to equalize the pressure in my left middle ear during an ill-fated dive, and I lost hearing for about a week until my Eustachian tube finally opened and my ears popped.  I have had no problems with equalization after that, but I was left with ringing in my left ear (tinnitus), that seems to be permanent, even though mild.  My question: is this kind of accident unusual in diving?  I have asked around, but my coaches don't seem to be familiar with this--which suggests that it's an improbable event.  If this is the case, I'll take all the reasonable precautions and keep diving.  Otherwise, I'll have to reconsider the whole enterprise.

Answer
Hi Pablo -

In my coaching experience, I have had divers suffer ear problems. This has primarily been due to the following reasons:

1. The diver lands on the side of their head where the first thing that hits the water is their ear. This can blow out the eardrum and have long term consequences. The reason it happens is that we have an inborn response not to land our face. We automatically turn our head so as to not injure our eyes.The problem is the result of trauma on the ear.

2. The diver is susceptible to ear problems from constantly going deep in the water, which the diver is supposed to do. Some divers have more sensitive inner ears that others.As a child, if they had constant ear infections, then water getting in the inner ear can be a problem for an adult diver.Divers should always dry out their ears after practice to get small amounts of water out of the inner ear.Just a tiny drop in the inner ear canal can cause infections. This might be the ringing problem you have.

3. The diver goes in the water headfirst but without squeezing the head with the upper arms (biceps) so that water cannot enter between the arm and head. This primarily happens to divers diving higher than one meter, but could happen from a lower height. Water can bounce back and forth between the arm and head and cause ear problems. The reason a diver needs to squeeze the head with the biceps is to get a cleaner, non-splashy entry.

You might try and use an ear plug and swim cap when you dive. You should only do this after seeing an ear doctor, tell him or her your problem and ask if my suggestions should be used.

I would also suggest asking this same question to another expert on this site or a different one who may know more than I do about tinnitus.

Hope all this helps.