Ear Barotrauma vs. Inner-Ear DCS System

Common symptoms:

Both ear barotraumas and innerear DCS can cause vertigo (a severe spinning sensation), hearing loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), nausea and vomiting.

How to tell the difference:

Ear barotrauma symptoms occur abruptly during descent or in the course of an ascent. Inner-ear DCS symptoms usually occur within 30 to 60 minutes of surfacing and generally require significant depth-time exposure.

Special cases:

Middle-ear barotrauma is usually associated with the acute onset of ear pain. It may involve bleeding, rupture of the eardrum and fullness of the ear. Inner-ear barotrauma can develop secondarily in individuals with middle-ear barotrauma, causing rupture of the labyrinth and leakage of liquid from the inner ear.

In rare situations, the increase in middle-ear pressure during a normal ascent can cause reversible injury of the facial nerve and weakness of the facial muscles.

Vertigo can also occur if the pressure is different on the vestibular organs of the ear

(those in the middle cavity of the ear).

That condition is alternobaric vertigo. Both conditions resolve after pressure equalisation.