HWN Suggests

Barotrauma: The Ins and Outs of the Pops and Cracks

Many of us know the feeling. We’re on descent and realize that one of our ears hasn’t equalized. We perform the Valsalva maneuver, and SQUEAK! The air zips in, we may feel some momentary pain, and the pressure in the ear goes away. We continue the dive, perhaps with the ear gurgling and snapping, and surface with the most common injury in diving: middle ear barotrauma.

Boyle’s Law states that as pressure around an air-filled space increases, the volume will decrease proportionally, and vice versa. In practice, this means that all of the air-filled spaces in and around our bodies can be affected in one way or another by pressure. When we dive, these spaces need to be equalized as…

read full article

Articles of Interest

Can you dive with ear barotrauma?

OK, so you messed up on your first dive of your holiday, didn’t listen to the pain in your ears, and now you’ve got middle ear barotrauma. Your ears feel “full” (they are: with blood and mucus) and you can’t hear too well. But you feel fine, and equalising is no longer a problem. Can you continue to dive for the rest of the week you paid so much for? Some divers do, but they are taking a serious risk of permanent loss of hearing or, even worse, balance control.

Diving-related otological injuries: Initial assessment and management

Management involves exclusion of inner ear barotrauma, short-term use of nasal decongestants and/or intranasal steroid sprays and antibiotics for any secondary infection.11 Diving should not recommence until all symptoms have resolved, tympanic membrane perforations have healed and equalisation is possible. In cases of persistent tympanic membrane perforation, surgical repair may be necessary.

Ear pain after diving? You may have sustained an ear barotrauma!

Fortunately, majority of ear barotrauma does not need any treatment and recovers fully on its own. During this period, patients should avoid exposing themselves to significant pressure changes in the environment such as diving or taking a flight.

Frenzel Equalization Technique: The Frenzel Maneuver Explained

Unlike other equalization methods that rely on pushing air from the lungs into the ears, the Frenzel technique employs the tongue and throat muscles.

How to Equalize Your Ears While Scuba Diving

When you swallow you naturally equalize the pressure between the sections of your ears. Go ahead, try swallowing. You’ll hear a soft “click” or “pop” – that’s your soft palate muscles pulling open your eustachian tubes. As these tubes open, higher-pressure air rushes from your throat to your middle ear. This equalizes the pressure and prevents inner ear damage as the pressure of your surroundings change.

Middle ear barotrauma in diving

Middle ear barotrauma (MEBt) is the most common medical complication in diving, posing a serious risk to dive safety. Given this prevalence and the continuing growth of the diving industry, a comprehensive overview of the condition is warranted.

Middle-Ear Barotrauma (MEBT)

Middle-ear barotrauma (ear squeeze) is the most common dive injury. It occurs when pressure in the air space of the middle ear is not equalized to the ambient pressure. It can cause a ruptured eardrum and can happen either while diving or flying.

Sounds Like Trouble: Ear Injuries for Divers

Ear injuries happen more frequently than any other type of diving injury. In fact, they occur more often than several of the other most common dive injuries combined. Every time we dive we put our ears through a great deal of stress, but forgetting to equalize or forcing it when we have some congestion can quickly lead to a painful problem.

The Definitive Guide to the Frenzel Technique

Not a lot of people know that there is a link between the World War II German Luftwaffe and freediving, but here it is: the equalising technique practised by divers the world over was developed by Hermann Frenzel, a commander in the aforementioned air force and an ear, nose and throat specialist.

Unrecognized Ear Barotrauma

Problems with pressure equalization in the middle ear are very common in diving and may result in barotrauma, which is the most common diving injury. Symptoms of barotrauma vary. Rarely does a diver experience a loud noise as this diver described, but more common is a pain in the ear and dizziness. Divers should be aware of symptoms of barotrauma and should not ignore them. If there is any discomfort in the ears, divers should abstain from diving. If mild ear pain or hearing difficulty continues after flying or diving for days, divers should see a doctor.

“Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the ED”: Common Diving Emergencies

Middle Ear Barotrauma is the most common cause of otalgia in scuba, affecting up to 40% of divers.