Like a fish in water
For many people today, sports are part of their daily lives and a reflection of their well-being and quality of life. This applies to everyone, regardless of whether they wear hearing aids or not. When it comes to scuba diving, however, there are a few things that both hearing aid users and people with normal hearing should keep in mind regarding their ears.
Magically colorful fish, glittering coral reefs, unfathomable depths where mysterious treasures glisten: The underwater world holds its own unique, fascinating magic—and is governed by its own laws. This is because water exerts significantly greater pressure on the human body than we are used to above water. When diving, you must therefore learn to regularly equalize this increased pressure in your ears.
“The pressure on the ears and sinuses is one of the greatest risks of freediving—you have to prevent a ruptured eardrum. That’s why we freedivers have a very close relationship with our ears,” explains Werner Giove. He is a dive instructor and, with his dive school, the Freedive Academy, specializes in so-called freediving—diving without technical aids such as compressed-air tanks. What makes freediving unique is that freedivers take a single breath and try to reach the greatest possible depth on that one breath. Even at a depth of just ten meters, the ambient pressure is already about twice as high as it is above water.
A Sticking Point and a Safety Net
“There are many different ways to equalize pressure, which our freediving students learn from us. One relatively simple technique is to direct air from the mouth, nose, and throat through the Eustachian tube into the sinuses and middle ear,” says Giove, who runs one of the largest freediving centers in Germany.
“That’s why, especially for beginner free divers, our ears are not only a critical point but also a safety net. Because if I don’t have enough air left to equalize the pressure in my ears, I’ll probably run out of air before I can make it back to the surface.”
Hearing aid manufacturers advise against wearing hearing aids during prolonged diving (longer than 30 minutes) or at depths greater than 1 meter. Hearing aids should have an IP68 certification. Therefore, hearing aids should be removed during prolonged and deep dives. If you briefly submerge yourself in water or forget to remove your hearing aids before taking a shower, this is not a problem. As a general rule, you should have an ENT doctor confirm your fitness for diving before you begin diving.
If you're interested in water sports and would like to go diving, a hearing care professional near you will be happy to advise you on choosing a hearing aid. Just remember to remove your hearing aids before going on longer or deeper dives.
