Diving and hearing loss

[crofty]

OK
I have just had my Occuational Health check up that the company does every 3 years, apart from the fact that I am short and "fat" it was all Ok apart from my hearing. There has been a large drop in my hearing in the last 3 years.

Has any research been done into hearing loss and diving?

Could they be related, with the drum being "stretched" slightly on each dive??


Richard

[John Williams]

OK
I have just had my Occuational Health check up that the company does every 3 years, apart from the fact that I am short and "fat" it was all Ok apart from my hearing. There has been a large drop in my hearing in the last 3 years.

Has any research been done into hearing loss and diving?

Could they be related, with the drum being "stretched" slightly on each dive??


Richard



If you are clearing your ears frequently enough and not diving with a cold that would prevent you clearing your ears effectively then why would the drum be stretched?

If your regularly experience pain on descent/ascent then you are either doing it wrong....or should be checked out by an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist (and preferably one who knows something about diving)

HTH

John

[diverd]

Pardon?

Hearing loss in divers is not at all uncommon. It is frequently confirmed by audiometric testing and by otoscopic examination. There may be many causes, including injury caused by an over-pressure injury at some time, middle ear disease, or these aside the way I understand it the eardrum also simply grows a thicker skin after a period of time due to the constant changes in pressure it succumbs to with repetitive diving - A simple protective reaction by the body as it adapts to new functions and environments.

It has no serious affect on us, except the bollocking we get being told we constantly have the telly on too loud!? I've had a similar reduction in my hearing capacity after years of repetitive diving as an Instructor, but I find that as I get older this function offers a handy protective cloak to be able to hear what I choose to around the house - and I even have a letter/medical from my doctor to back me up! Brilliant! What a great thing it is being a diver!


kind regards
diverd

[Andy Wade]

Pardon?

Hearing loss in divers is not at all uncommon. It is frequently confirmed by audiometric testing and by otoscopic examination. There may be many causes, including injury caused by an over-pressure injury at some time, middle ear disease, or these aside the way I understand it the eardrum also simply grows a thicker skin after a period of time due to the constant changes in pressure it succumbs to with repetitive diving - A simple protective reaction by the body as it adapts to new functions and environments.

It has no serious affect on us, except the bollocking we get being told we constantly have the telly on too loud!? I've had a similar reduction in my hearing capacity after years of repetitive diving as an Instructor, but I find that as I get older this function offers a handy protective cloak to be able to hear what I choose to around the house - and I even have a letter/medical from my doctor to back me up! Brilliant! What a great thing it is being a diver!



"It's your round Dennis."

"Dennis."

"Dennis!"

"OYYYY DEAFLUGS!... I SAID, IT'S YOUR ROUND!!....."

"Oh forget it, I'll get the beers in this time."

;-)

[Paul A.Watts]

Try this link, you'll find all u need to know about hearing probs and diving....

<a href="http://www.scuba-doc.com/entprobs.html" >http://www.scuba-doc.com/entprobs.html</a>

[diverd]

Cheers Andy!

Last time I said 'no' to a beer I didn't understand the question! It's great how a few cold ones before a dive sure make those colourful little fishies so much more interesting...

regards
diverd
:-)

[Chris Edge]

There is no evidence to show that divers become deaf because of their diving. Cross sectional studies on commercial divers show this, and in the HSE divers I've examined, the hearing does not appear to deteriorate to any significant extent over time. Age is the most common reason for hearing becoming poorer. If your hearing has diminished significantly over a period of time (3 years) then you should perhaps be consulting with an ENT surgeon. I'd be interested to see the audiogram. Did you have tympanometry?

[DeepDigit]

Pardon?

Hearing loss in divers is not at all uncommon. It is frequently confirmed by audiometric testing and by otoscopic examination. There may be many causes, including injury caused by an over-pressure injury at some time, middle ear disease, or these aside the way I understand it the eardrum also simply grows a thicker skin after a period of time due to the constant changes in pressure it succumbs to with repetitive diving - A simple protective reaction by the body as it adapts to new functions and environments.

It has no serious affect on us, except the bollocking we get being told we constantly have the telly on too loud!? I've had a similar reduction in my hearing capacity after years of repetitive diving as an Instructor, but I find that as I get older this function offers a handy protective cloak to be able to hear what I choose to around the house - and I even have a letter/medical from my doctor to back me up! Brilliant! What a great thing it is being a diver!


kind regards
diverd

-------------------------------------------
I was gonna say - I go tone deaf for about 24 hours after a days diving.. very weird.

I have got used to it now - but my wife tells me off for having everything so loud that evening...

Dive Safe :-)