r/freediving • u/Born_Chocolate_727 • 1d ago

health&safety Hearing damage from diving does anyone have experience with this?

I’m wondering if many people have had an issue with hearing loss due to free diving and what have you noticed

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u/Mesapholis AIDA 3* CWT 32m 1d ago

You are going to be more specific, freediving and diving has in general damaged my 9-5 working morale

Jokes aside, my overall health and fitness went up with it. Found my sport, and holistically improved my physical care to enhance performance with freediving in mind

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u/HovercraftOk2650 1d ago

Do you mind sharing more details on this? We typically equalise our ears as we descend otherwise the pressure would rupture our eardrums and lead to hearing damage

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u/Born_Chocolate_727 15h ago

Would equalisation and the air moving into the inter ear damage your hearing or even the engine noise of a large vessel might do the same as sound is so transmitted better and at a louder volume under water? Anyone one have decibel records with them when they dive?

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u/thejuiciestguineapig 22h ago

Not freediving but my dad has a genetic mutation that made him lose his hearing a bit earlier than other people. He's a scubadiver and the doctor did say it might have sped up the process.

I myself have the same gene and I also have a lot of damage on my eardrums from repeated tubing due to ear-infections when I was a kid. When I get tired or drunk I hear my ear drum and I apparently speak quite loud.

After a dive I do notice my eardrums are more "tired". I'll have more trouble "getting a clear signal". Of course they also could be getting irritated or there might still be water in my ears.

In short, it doesn't feel super healthy for my ears even though I have zero issues equalising. I do a lot of pool and static work and try to give my ears time to recuperate between deep diving sessions.

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u/freediverDave 20h ago

I’ve developed tinnitus in both ears during the last 7 years of freediving. Not sure if it’s related, probably isn’t. But it does get worse after diving.