What Is It Like to Go Swimming? Is It Safe with ETD and Middle Ear Myoclonus (MEM)?

I'm going to be serving in the army soon. Part of the training is to swim. My ETD (and I guess tinnitus as well) started because I went swimming and couldn't get the water out. That was in 2015. It's been almost 4 years since I submerged my head underwater.

What scares me more is the fact that I'm currently having Middle Ear Myoclonus (MEM), most likely Dysacusis. Couple that with my ETD which was already caused by water in the ear, you can imagine how thrilled I am about this whole thing.

Am I going to be in any form of danger? Am I overthinking? Is there anything I can do as some sort of precaution?

 

Anyone?

 

I swam in the ocean & lake last summer. I found a poster on here did dives. So I did it, no change in my tinnitus and I have head tinnitus. Search for DIVE.

 

That's good for you! I guess my issues are different, so I'll have to be careful still

 

I'm not convinced the water combo did all that to you, but ask Bill Bauer to research it. He might be able to find your situation. I also freaked out to go under the water.

Can you go to a hotel that has a pool and slowly give it a try. And, find out if it is only fear, or a medical issue.

 

I swim daily with MEM. I have found no changes for the better or worse since it started back in May. The only thing that has helped has been muscle relaxers. I think you may be overthinking on this a bit. Don't let this kind of thing stop you from living your life to the fullest!

 

What is MEM? And how is that different from ETD? May I ask, do you still have/hear a crackling noise in your ear every time you swallow?

 

I swim almost everyday with garden variety tinnitus, if there is such a thing. All the doctors I have asked telling them I have rather chronic tinnitus is, swimming will do no harm to tinnitus and as a stress reliever it is a net positive.

I was a competitive swimmer growing up. Swimming is a big part of my life and have taught it as well and still do at a reduced level. As to being underwater, I routinely swim a fair amount under water and in fact have competitions with other people for fun as to who can go the farthest.

I will say this about tinnitus and swimming and OP I can't speak to any particular disfunction you may have like ETD.
Swimming is one of the best medicines in life and when I am shredding the water, my tinnitus melts away. I never hear it. Water rushing over my ears completely dissolves it.

Now a wacky element. When I get out of the pool I can hear my tinnitus again. Many times my ears are plugged from the water. And I will jump on one leg with head tilted to knock it out. I notice a couple of years ago one particular side when I do this. Most of my high frequency hearing loss and highest volume tinnitus is on my left side. When I jump up and down on my left leg with head tilted to the left to knock the water out of my left ear, my tinnitus flares with every jump on my left side. It sounds like a tambourine or...the same high frequency pitch as my tinnitus only louder.

This of course is some kind of somatic influence my tinnitus has. It has to be related to some kind of pressure I have inside my head that becomes momentarily increased by jumping on my left side with head tilted down. I do not hear the same thing on my right side. But, I don't have much tinnitus on the right side.

My thoughts.

OP, you maybe overthinking it but I honestly don't like that term. Can't overthink stuff. You think about stuff until you are comfortable with your conclusion. We each are different There maybe an interaction with water and your ETD for example. I would listen to anecdotal accounts here and if you want further conclusion, speak to your doctor or doctors about it.

Good luck.

 

Hey man, for three years I have had tinnitus, I am pretty sure mine was because of noise exposure but I also have this, "It sounds like a tambourine or...the same high frequency pitch as my tinnitus only louder." exactly like that when you do stuff like trying to unclog the ears or other stuff like if i cover my ears and get a smack in the head or something I will hear that tinnitus flare effect similar to a tambourine.

I have been curious about it since I noticed it. I think this also happens when a sudden loud noise occurs, I can notice this tinnitus flare for the time the sudden loud noise occurs... Why does this condition have so many weird effects...