Sun 22nd Jan

Over the previous three days the hearing in my right ear returned to normal but my left ear was a different matter. Strange random noises started to replace my normal hearing. I became more concerned as the days passed but was reassured by reading about Barotrauma on the Internet, "the source of all knowledge" Unfortunately, the knowledge I was acquiring wasn't applicable to me. Barotrauma is fairly common amongst divers, according to the Internet, and is caused by water pressure damage to the eardrum or middle ear through failure to equalise pressure while diving. The pressure changes most in the first few feet of diving and a dive of 20 feet would easily be sufficient to cause the symptoms I was experiencing, or so I thought. The flight home was uneventful but I did have plenty of opportunity to use headphones and to my growing horror I realised I was completely deaf in my left ear. It's amazing how the brain can compensate for things. I knew the hearing in my left ear was bad but it was only when I put a earphone in just my left ear and nothing in my right did I understand how completely deaf I was. I was starting to panic.