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Hearing loss after scuba diving barotrauma?
Has anyone had an experience with hearing loss from barotrauma before?
About a month ago I injured my ear scuba diving. I don’t recall any pain or true vertigo. I actually thought everything was going great
until I surfaced and instantly had muffled hearing and tinnitus. I’ve seen an ENT twice now and confirmed my hearing loss has gotten better since the incident. However, I still can’t hear above 10000 hz, have tinnitus, and certain frequencies/noise levels cause this crackling distortion in my ear. I don’t think it’s Hyperacusis since there’s no pain and it doesn’t sound any louder, there’s just a layer of distortion added to the sound (sounds like rain hitting windshield). I also hear a buzz in my ear when I talk relatively loud now. I did have fluid in my ear, a retracted eardrum, and inflammation during my first examination post injury.
My ENT said typically they monitor my condition for 1 year and they do have documentation where similar injuries have fully healed in about 6 months. I’m 26 and in good health, so my ENT said my chances of recovery are about as good as they can get. At the moment, we are not sure what is damaged, CT scan looked OK. I’m just worried it’s my inner ear. (Making it permanent.) Nothing seemed traumatic during my dive, so I’m a bit frustrated.
Maybe I’m just looking for some confirmation that there’s a chance my hearing will still restore itself, but I was wanting to see if anyone has experience with something similar to this. I’ve not experienced an injury before that took more than a few weeks to almost fully recover.
About a month ago I injured my ear scuba diving. I don’t recall any pain or true vertigo. I actually thought everything was going great
until I surfaced and instantly had muffled hearing and tinnitus. I’ve seen an ENT twice now and confirmed my hearing loss has gotten better since the incident. However, I still can’t hear above 10000 hz, have tinnitus, and certain frequencies/noise levels cause this crackling distortion in my ear. I don’t think it’s Hyperacusis since there’s no pain and it doesn’t sound any louder, there’s just a layer of distortion added to the sound (sounds like rain hitting windshield). I also hear a buzz in my ear when I talk relatively loud now. I did have fluid in my ear, a retracted eardrum, and inflammation during my first examination post injury.
My ENT said typically they monitor my condition for 1 year and they do have documentation where similar injuries have fully healed in about 6 months. I’m 26 and in good health, so my ENT said my chances of recovery are about as good as they can get. At the moment, we are not sure what is damaged, CT scan looked OK. I’m just worried it’s my inner ear. (Making it permanent.) Nothing seemed traumatic during my dive, so I’m a bit frustrated.
Maybe I’m just looking for some confirmation that there’s a chance my hearing will still restore itself, but I was wanting to see if anyone has experience with something similar to this. I’ve not experienced an injury before that took more than a few weeks to almost fully recover.
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