sellentu@isis.cs.du.edu (Scott J. Ellentuch) (05/05/91)
To all,
Recently I've taken up skydiving (As a previous message may have
mentioned). I've run into a slight problem though.
About 2 weeks I went for another Tandem dive. When I got down from
the adrenaline rush, I noticed that my ears hurt a little, clicked when
I swallowed and my adnoids were a little "sore". On Friday night I
said that either Sat. morning I was going to do my AFF jumps or see a
doctor. Well, when it felt like there were 6 inch steel rods in my throat
and that someone ran a steel rasp over my throat, I went to the local
emergency room (I'm visiting from out of town, so I didn't know WHO to go
to). The doctor told me that if I *DID* go I would have definitely blown
out my ear drums. He put me on AMOXYCILLIN and ENTEX (Decongestant) and
grounded me for 10 days. I looked at him in horror. He told I could
go in 5 if it felt REAL good and took Neo-Senyphrine. Well, the weather
didn't cooperate and I waited all 10.
Last Tues I went for 2 AFF level jumps, and immediately noticed the
problem again, ESPECIALLY in my right ear. I made an appointment with the
doctor I was supposed to follow up with after the E.R. visit. (I make it
for Monday, so I could jump during the weekend, but re-scheduled it to
Fri because I wanted to get relief... IT REALLY HURT). The doctor looked
me over, and said there was SLIGHT bleeding behind the right ear drum.
I was put on PREDNISONE (An oral STEROID) and some other thing (VACENASE
I think its called) to help.
***GETTING TO MY POINT....FINALLY...*** The doctor said that it
would HELP, but there is the possiblity that I will need TUBES put in my
ears to help the eustachian tubes out. What I wanted to know is if anyone
has had this done, does it hurt, what are the side affects, how much does
it cost, and is there anything else I can do to prevent this. I really
want to continue diving, but if its going to mean I have to visit a doctor
and get medicine after each jump, FORGET IT!!!!!!
BTW: I am VERY allergic to all sorts of things, and have TERRIBLE
sinus problems... Forgot to mention it.
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**********************************************************************lenny@bmerh682.BNR.CA (Len DePalma) (05/08/91)
I've never heard of the tube procedure you mentioned, but...
I thought you might like to know that your experience is very common
in another sport - scuba diving. As a 'hobbyist' in both
activities I though you might appreciate a little additional info.
Note, however, the cause is also a pressure difference but it is
in reverse of what is experienced above sea level (you probably al-
ready know this).
You mentioned severe sinus problems which is likely the cause of your
discomfort as this is probably what is blocking your esutachiun tubes.
This problem is very pronounced when under water, the advantage here
being that you can stop your descent at any time to clear your ears -
unfortunetly you don't have that option *above* sea level. :)
I sometimes have mild problems with my sinus and have experienced some
discomfort when scuba diving, however I have never experienced any
pain in my ears while sky diving. Granted I have only had four jumps
and the first one doesn't really count as far as being aware of much
(hoooooooly shit, etc!). What I'm getting around to is this sounds
like bad news for your diving hobby (in water or air) since it sounds
like your esutacian(s) is near totally blocked.
Also, my diving instructor warned me about taking any type of medication
to clear the eustacean before a dive - the problem comes if the stuff
wears off *during* a dive... you come back to the surface and your ears
explode (ouch!). Something you might keep in mind while sky diving.
Note, however, there is one type of medicine (Actifed, or something
like that) which _is_ safe to take because it naturally clears the
tube(s) and hence does not wear off. You might want to try it -
although I would strongly suggest you get in touch with an MD who
is familiar with one of these sports and can vouch for the medication's
suitability (sorry I can't remember the exact name, but is is out
there).
Good luck.
""" _ Pilot to Co-pilot: "Say... what's a mountain goat
@ """/ \ ^^ doing way up here in a cloud bank?" G. Larson
_ / \ ^^
/ V \ _
_/ \ \~/.\~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
\...\_______/\/\.. ^.
/..\.\::. )
Len DePalma /....::::::. ' ~~___*_
Ottawa, Canada :::::.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~//--H-
lenny@bnr.ca !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ds4a@dalton.acc.Virginia.EDU (Dale Southard) (05/08/91)
In article <4461@bnr-rsc.UUCP> lenny@bnr.ca writes: >I've never heard of the tube procedure you mentioned, but... > > > >Also, my diving instructor warned me about taking any type of medication >to clear the eustacean before a dive - the problem comes if the stuff >wears off *during* a dive... you come back to the surface and your ears >explode (ouch!). Something you might keep in mind while sky diving. >Note, however, there is one type of medicine (Actifed, or something >like that) which _is_ safe to take because it naturally clears the >tube(s) and hence does not wear off. You might want to try it - >although I would strongly suggest you get in touch with an MD who >is familiar with one of these sports and can vouch for the medication's >suitability (sorry I can't remember the exact name, but is is out >there). Unfortunately, Actifed wouldn't be very safe because it causes drowsiness -- not exactly the side effect you want to experince durning skydiving (especially if the drowsiness is helped along my hypoxia). The best solution I have found is probably the same one that 1000 other people have suggested by now. If your ears hurt, preform valsalva maneuver and go on with life (for those who didn't already know, a valsalva manuver is when one holds his/her nose and blows. It removes the inner ear dysbarism by forcing the eustachion tubes open). Ususally by the 2nd or 3rd jump of the day, I no longer have a problem with inner ear dysbarisms. But my problems were/are not as acute as yours. Preforming a few valsalva manuvers while on the ground seems to help on those occasions when I do jump with a cold. Good Luck. --> --> Dale UVa (ds4a@virginia.edu)
jerrys@mobby.umiacs.umd.edu (Jerry Sobieski) (05/09/91)
In article <1991May8.165600.18536@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> ds4a@dalton.acc.Virginia.EDU (Dale Southard) writes: > >The best solution I have found is probably the same one that 1000 other people >have suggested by now. If your ears hurt, preform valsalva maneuver and go >on with life (for those who didn't already know, a valsalva manuver is when >one holds his/her nose and blows. It removes the inner ear dysbarism by >forcing the eustachion tubes open). Ususally by the 2nd or 3rd jump of the day, >I no longer have a problem with inner ear dysbarisms. But my problems were/are >not as acute as yours. Preforming a few valsalva manuvers while on the ground >seems to help on those occasions when I do jump with a cold. Good Luck. > (I've done this for years and never knew it was called a "valsalva manuever".) A note of caution here: Jumping (or diving) with a cold can be dangerous in ways other than just eustachion tubes being blocked. Frequently, the cold consists of severe sinus congestion. This cannot be alleviated simply by clearing one's ears. The rapid pressure increase that occurs in freefall can cause sinus squeeze which is *VERY* painful and could cause long term damage to the sinus tissues, and I believe can cause unconsiousness (a "Bad Thing" in either sport). (There is some conjecture that sinus problems may have been a contributing factor in the fatallity that occured recently in Deland on the 150+ way.) Other issues include impaired reaction time due to the decongestants and antihistimines present in most of the OTC cold remedies. The last thing you need is to not have a clear head at breakoff, when you have only seconds to deal with potential problems. I would recommend you lay off a weekend and get over your ailment, or get a doctor to deal with non-transient problems such as difficult eustachion tubes. (Besides, have you ever seen the goggles of a jumper with a runny nose?... yeech!:-) Jerry -- Domain: jerrys@umiacs.umd.edu Jerry Sobieski UUCP: uunet!mimsy!jerrys UMIACS - Univ. of Maryland Phone: (301)405-6735 College Park, Md 20742