Perforated eardrum...Yikes!

[jleech]

Fear not, if you aren't frightened off of diving due to this, you should still be able to do a lot of diving. 

I ruptured my eardrum when I had a reverse block on about dive number 19, I'm now approaching 700.  I was diving when I had a cold, and using sudafed to try to open up my sinuses.  I was able to force my ears to equalize, but when I started to ascend from 80 ft, I  felt pressure in my ear, and was not smart enough to stop and descend a bit to see if I could get it to clear.  I just kept going up, and it eventually popped.

The vertigo is caused by cold water entering the ear canal, mine happened in 70 degree water in fresh water springs in Florida, so was not too bad.

I went to a doctor who put me on some pretty strong antibiotics to clear up the infection.  Once the infection went away the rupture healed.  The doctor told me the perforation was originally just about the size of a pencil lead.  My doctor cleared me for diving just under 3 months later, and I started my rescue class.

I was pretty worried after that, but I soon got comfortable again.  I never use sudafed to allow myself to dive, I mostly take some antihistamines, and ibuprofen, to make sure that my mucus membranes don't swell due to an allergic reaction, and to keep secretions thinner.

I hope your ear heals up OK. 

This is actually the second time I have had a ruptured eardrum.  The first happened in a pool, when I slapped my head against the surface of the water while fooling around in 6 ft of water.  It was about 2 months before that healed up as well.  That incident was 10 years prior to when I started diving.

Jeff