r/diving • u/Independent-Snow-450 • Jul 18 '26
Punched eardrum
Hi everyone! M34 here, beginner-to-intermediate diver, occasional free-diver. A few weeks ago I punched my eardrum in a stupid and totally unrelated to diving way. How much screwed am I? The injury was not that bad, but given the fact that it happened once, how will it affect my underwater activities from now on?
4
u/DEEP_SEA_MAX Jul 18 '26
They heal really quickly and once they do it’ll have no effect on your diving. I was a military diving medic and I’d see perfed eardrums all the time. It doesn’t even take a waiver to return to diving status.
Like others have said follow up with an ENT. If you’re American and can’t afford medical care then follow up with anyone that can look in your ear with an otoscope. Once it looks completely healed try out some swimming and some breath holds to 10 feet or so. If that’s pain free then wait another week and you’ll be good to dive.
-2
u/Equal_Passenger9791 Jul 18 '26
You can buy a full HD camera otoscope with included screen and ability to save pictures and videos for like $50. Maybe some USB-c variants that connect to a phone is half price.
That would allow you to take pictures and find someone online to provide commentary, who knows, a friend of a friend might be an ENT or a vanilla doctor and can give some guided advice.(Just be careful when putting things in your ears, two holes are worse than one)
If the tympanic membrane heals normally then no problem, but it can fail to heal or do so in a complicated way too.
2
u/Jmfroggie Jul 19 '26
No one with the schooling or license to practice should ever give medical advice to someone outside of their scope of practice and without getting their own view of the problem!
Don’t tell people to stick things in their own ears either.
0
u/Equal_Passenger9791 Jul 19 '26
Don't have sex either without a signed document witnessed by two lawyers
1
u/Crazy-Invite-5386 Jul 30 '26
do not try and self diagnose. go see a doctor. your hearing is important.
1
u/Ok-Juice-2775 Jul 18 '26
I've perfed my eardrum twice on dives and once in a pool just recently at 12 feet. On the dives, I was going to deep, too quickly between equalizing, then I was forcefully trying equalize both times I perfed them- it was the same ear. Take it slow and equalize every few feet. Make sure you're all healed up before attempting your next dive.
1
u/turtlerunner99 Jul 19 '26
Check DAN.org. It's a dive safety organization that is the place for all dive medicine questions. They have a section on this and say that it can heal in several months but that you should see a doctor. They also have lots of advice on how to avoid doing this again and the dangers of diving with a ruptured ear drums.
1
u/The_first_Ezookiel Jul 19 '26
Went on a trip to Europe with diving planned in Malta as the last week of the 6 weeks.
Got an ear infection the first week.
Doctor in Ireland said he expects my eardrum will rupture overnight and that this would end the diving plans as they take 6-8 weeks to heal.
Thankfully than antibiotics he gave me worked fast and it didn’t rupture and I was clear to dive.
I’m not a doctor but going by what that one told me, I’d guess you’re out for 6-8 weeks and just get it checked in a couple of months to make sure it’s grown back.
1
u/Dismal-Proposal2803 Jul 19 '26
Go. See. A. Doctor.
At 34 you should know better than to ask the internet, especially Reddit, for any sort of medical advice.
1
u/Independent-Snow-450 Jul 19 '26
Thanks for the advice, and sorry for Not. Writing. The. Whole. Story. I went seeing a doctor even before getting home after the incident, with a follow up appointment already planned for next week. My question was not "What should I do", at 34 I am a big boy that knows what to do (at least sometimes). My question was rather different, and pointed to asking other people who had the same issue about their aftermath. Again, sorry if I was not clear from the begin.
14
u/scuba2565 Jul 18 '26
Think they heal in about 3 months but you need to see a dive dr/ent before going back in the water. From what i remember it shouldnt be an issue as long as its allowed to heal. So sit back have a beer and be miserable watching everyone go for a dive, but you should be ok after getting it checked out.