perforated eardrums

Question
Hi Mike I really hope you can give me the answer I dream
of! I have a passion for sharks and marine life in general
and would love to see what its like first hand in the
depths of the sea. HOWEVER I have one possibly two
perforated eardrums which will not heal naturally due to a
few operations in my childhood. I know nothing about
diving, but know you have to equalize the pressure as you
descend. Can I just block my ear canals up to dive? Could I
get away with only diving in shallow waters? Do you get the
same feeling when snorkeling? Can you snorkel with sharks
(silly question?) I'm desperate, please help.

Answer
Hi Glen,

You pose some interesting questions and it'll be fun to provide some possibilities for you to interact with sharks and other marine critters.

You cannot use conventional scuba gear and dive with perforated eardrums.  The reason is that your ears are exposed to the surrounding water pressure and it would force water through the perforations in your eardrum and into your middle ear.  That would cause dizziness and vertigo and probably lead to serious ear infections.  You cannot plug your ears while scuba diving because the increasing water pressure would force the plugs deep into the ear canal and require a trip to the emergency room to get them removed.  If your eardrum was NOT perforated, then the increasing pressure from the compressed plugs would probably rupture the eardrum anyway.  So...no earplugs!!  Just in case you're doing research on earplugs...there ARE earplugs that divers can use but they have small holes in them to allow the pressure to equalize.  They do not keep the water out of your ears.

You CAN dive but you'll have to use a helmet that completely covers your head.  This is what commercial divers use and it will keep your entire head dry so you would handle pressure changes just as you would in an airliner, for example.  The problem here is that these helmets are not used in recreational scuba classes.  You would probably not be able to pass the medical exam necessary to enter a recreational scuba class anyway because of your perforated eardrums.

Recreational scuba classes require that you be able to dive to depths of around 40 feet in order to complete the course.  You would not be able to descend beyond about 3 feet without forcing water through your perforated eardrums.  So...unless you can get your eardrums repaired...no scuba classes.  Sorry!!

Now that I've told you what you CANNOT do, lets look at what you CAN do.  For a short term fix, you can look for dive destinations which offer submarine dives.  Of course, they're expensive, but they will take you under the water in a small submarine and let you look through portholes and see marine critters at depths that recreational divers cannot even reach.

If that's too rich for your budget (I know it's too rich for mine!!) then lets look at something else.

You CAN snorkel and use earplugs.  However you MUST stay on the surface at all times since submerging will force the earplugs too deep into your ear.

You can also snorkel with sharks.  However you're limited to shallow water and you won't get to see much.  As a general rule, divers don't want to stay on the surface when observing sharks.  It's much safer to get on the bottom in deeper water (30 or 40 feet) and watch them from there.

Snorkeling can provide some of the same feelings as diving.  We frequently snorkel after a day of diving since it's relaxing and it feels good to get all that heavy equipment (about 50 pounds) off your back.  We can just relax and float around on the surface in shallow water and watch all the critters.

In summary, Glen, if you cannot get your eardrums repaired then you won't be able to take scuba lessons.  In order to go underwater, you'll need to do it in a way that keeps your ears dry.  Snorkeling is possible with earplugs but you MUST remain on the surface at all times.

I know this isn't what you wanted to hear but at least I can get you into the water and, with some planning, under it as well.  I'd still like to see you get those ears fixed.  Then you can pursue a scuba certification and get down there with those sharks!!

Good Luck!
Mike Giles
Mike's Dive Center
mikescuba.com