ear problems

I usually have to clear mine under canopy on the first jump. Waiting to get to the ground is not an option. Just beware that continuing to jump when you can tell your ear is stopped up can cause some pretty serious problems. My ear drum kept building up pressure until it ruptured and the fluid came out about a month ago. Now I'm about to have skydiving related Ear Tube number two put in. This one ear has given me problems all my life so it's not exactly unexpected. However, just be aware that there are consequnces to continuing to jump when your ear is seriously bothering you.

Ear problems while or after jumping are sometimes brought on by excessive use of headsets listening to extra loud music. The ear drums can only take so much abuse, and it will start to show in jumpers faster than other people because when we ascend and dfescend, we put severe pressure on the drum asthe Eustachian tube has become weaker and easier to move against the drum.

You might get some help from anti-biotic drops, but likely you and many others have damaged the drums and they will never fully receover.

Lay off the headset music or cell phones. Many young people will be quite deaf by the time they are in their 40s

Bill Cole D-41

I have these same problems. The reason this happens is because your ear drum is like a piece of balloon. It can vibrate but air can't pass through it. So when you climb to altitude, the pressure on the other side of your ear drum (the opposite side as the ear canal leading to the outside) stays the same pressure as ground level. The pressure outside drops as you climb, so your ear drum will bulge toward the outside, which hurts. Your body has a mechanism that's supposed to equalize this. You have tiny tubes leading from the back of the throat to the side of the ear drum that doesn't face the outside. They're called eustachian tubes, and for a lot of people, they don't function properly. Instead of letting air flow to the inside of your ear, they collapse and do nothing.

A solution to this is visiting an Ear Nose and Throat specialist to have a Tympanostomy tube inserted directly into the ear drum. This is a surgery, and can be performed in the dr's office. This surgery is common in children who are prone to ear infections.

Having the tube in the ear drum will let air flow easily from one side of your ear drum to the other, and you'll feel no pain! They're great little things and I've had this done with immediate results.

There are some side issues involved with this:
1.) Now there is a hole in your ear drum, so when you swim, it's best to wear ear plus so water can't get behind your ear. I do this anyway, to avoid swimmer's ear, so it's not a big deal.
2.) The tube, as far as your body is concerned, is a foreign body. Eventually it's going to fall out (mine last about 18 months on average), and will need replacing.
3.) If the tube becomes clogged with wax, it's not going to function. So it's best to visit your ENT regularly to make sure wax doesn't accumulate around the tube.

Other than that, they're a great solution.

Hope this helped,
Matt

Hello DZ.com members,

Sorry to drag this post up again from the grave but...Just wondering if someone can shed some light on my situation. I did a tandem dive in Las Vegas a few years ago and loved it but what I didn't love so much was the tremendous pain I got in my ears from the pressure of the descent in altitude, and the popped ears I got for about 2 days afterwards to get rid of them completely. I first put this down to the fact I jump with a slight head cold and sore throat but nothing extreme though. I've now decided that I want to do my AFF training and went to do my level 1 jump on Sunday but unfortunately after reaching altitude up there was forced to come back down again with the plane because of the weather, on the ascent up I was fine with my ears no problem but coming back down again we came down pretty rapid and even that caused my ears to get upset and I got that same pressure pain again and popped ears :(. It's now been 3 days and still they're 95% unblocked but ever so slightly not. It's really bumming me out as I REALLY want to progress with my skydiving career and continue to jump but I don't know if the 'ear problems' can ever be overcome can they?.

What I want to know apart from the obvious pinch you nose and build pressure trick (WHICH I HATE AND FIND MAKES IT WORSE) has anyone got any medication they take and home tricks or remedies that might stop this.....?

Thanks in advance!

I'd tend to guess you have some blockage back in the sinuses. Nasal irrigation might help clear them out, but if you get a Neti pot for that purpose be sure to read the section on using a sterile solution for said irrigation (There have been a lot of brain-eating amoeba stories since the technique has become popular.)

If that doesn't work, I'd consult with a doctor to see if there's some other obstruction or swelling causing the problem. It's odd that it's not a problem until you come down. That's probably a clue.

Thanks for the reply FlyingRhenquest!,

I've just jumped the steps now and gone and booked myself a doctors appointment luckily I've managed to get a cancellation for tomorrow which is perfect as I was planning on doing my level 1 AFF jump Sunday ear problems or not lol. Spent 3 days grounded with the terrible weather here and looks like Sunday is going to be glorious! :)

iWinFlips

I've just jumped the steps now and gone and booked myself a doctors appointment

Good call! Do not jump until you get this figured out. I know it sucks to sit on the ground, but the potential pain caused by jumping with blocked sinuses sucks a lot more. Plus, you can do long term damage. The sky will still be there, so take the time to get yourself checked out and be sure you can jump safely.

Just plain sudafed does the trick for me, and works for scuba too .... Too bad you you need to sign your life away and will most likely end up on a government watch list when you buy it but so far I haven't seen anything else that works as well.