Medical & Fitness

Ear Problems in Diving: Part 1 — The Outer Ear

Lars Chittka; Axel Brockmann; as modified by Jmarchn / CC BY 4.0
Lars Chittka; Axel Brockmann; as modified by Jmarchn / CC BY 4.0

Many people suffer from ear problems during and after diving. Technical rebreather diver and underwater photographer Dr. Michael Rothschild is an ear, nose and throat specialist in New York City. In this series, he walks us through some of the common causes of dive-related ear problems, and how to treat and prevent them.

Thermal stress

A rapid chilling of superficial skeletal muscles (conductive cooling) creates a crippling weakening.

Thermal issues affect the comfort, performance and decompression stress experienced by divers. The impact varies with the timing, direction and magnitude of the thermal stress. Thermal protection can be provided by a variety of passive and active systems. Active systems should be used with particular care since they can markedly alter inert gas exchange and decompression risk.

DAN Offers Regional Emergency Hotlines in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Asia Pacific

Earlier this year DAN launched a dedicated Spanish-language emergency hotline. Now, Spanish-speaking divers can call +52-557-100-0540 to talk to Spanish-speaking medical professionals.

Although DAN has had Spanish-speaking medical staff for many years, the Spanish-language DAN Emergency Hotline means that now the person who answers the call will speak the caller’s own language.

This new hotline follows the Portuguese-language DAN Emergency Hotline (+55-11-3042-1157) that was launched in 2015 for divers in Brazil.

DAN Adds Severe Infectious Disease and Quarantine Coverage to Its Enhanced Membership

In February of this year DAN launched Enhanced Membership, which includes a higher benefit limit for medical transportation (up to $500,000), a continuing subscription to the print edition of Alert Diver magazine, and expanded travel assistance benefits, including search and rescue coverage and global security evacuation coverage.

David Charash Named 2022 DAN/Rolex Diver of the Year

Dr. Charash is a board-certified emergency medicine and undersea and hyperbaric medicine physician who has been caring for injured divers since 1993.

Early in his career he recognized the need for quality education for both divers and those in the medical community who care for them. He has developed workshops, symposiums, lectures, and a podcast (Fitness in Diving) about dive medicine, safety, and technology.

DAN Welcomes 2022 Interns

L to R: Alex Balan, Beth Jones, Aaron Kissel, Liam Brennan

The DAN Internship Program was created 23 years ago to give qualified students valuable experience in dive safety research. While the program is still research-oriented, its scope has expanded over the years to include projects that focus on other facets of DAN’s mission to help divers in need and to promote dive safety through education.

These interns will spend several months at DAN headquarters in Durham, NC, working with the Research, Medical Services, and Safety Services teams on various projects and research efforts.

Nosebleeds in Scuba Diving

Well-trained divers all know that they need to equalize their ears and sinuses as they descend. Usually, this is an easy process. However, there are some medical conditions that can make this more difficult. Technical rebreather diver and underwater photographer Dr. Michael Rothschild is a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist in New York.