Blu tac as ear plugs in tropics

[zingomar]

Been using blue tac for quite a while as an ear plug but never north of QLD

When it get too warm it gets very sticky and hard to roll out of the ear - found this once on a long walk back up to Snapper from Kirra once

Has anyone used it in Indo? If so did it stay hard enough to get out of the ear okay?

[2nd Reef]

Used blu-tac to seal a busted eardrum in Indo this year Zing. Surfed with it in every day and it always came out in one piece. Wasn't a problem.

[Donweather]

Is blu tac available in the tropics Stu, or did you take this as a first aid supply from Aus?

[2nd Reef]

Took it from home Don. Not sure it it's available or not over there.

[Karlos]

Probably ought to start a new thread but...

Can anyone (2nd Reef?) tell me the symptoms of a busted/perforated eardrum? I copped a smack upside the head the other day & since then I've had a ringing in the ears, though this ain't new to me it's just a bit more noticeable at the moment. What concerns me is when I hold my nose & blow out (ala the pressure release method) it feels & sounds like the air is going through the affected ear. I've done the online diagnosis thing, but that indicates I should be experiencing pain & my balance should be messed up. Neither of these things apply to me, but the air through the ear thing is a bit of a worry.

Anyway, I did go for a surf the other day with a chunk of wax in there & it seemed to hold up fine, not to mention the water that no doubt got in there when I've showered.

[2nd Reef]

I've done it three times now Karlos (four if you include the time I went back in the water too quick), each time it was from slapping the side of my head flush on the surface of the water and forcing air through the eardrum. Each time the results were the same: loss of balance and acute pain.

One of my mates perforated his by hitting the rail of his board. After it happened he was in a bit of discomfort but nothing severe. He kept surfing too, so there was no effect on his balance. He saw a doc a few days after the incident and was diagnosed with it.

So I guess it can happen many different ways, and the symptoms can also vary. One thing though, I wouldn't fcuk around with it. See a doctor quick, if water passes into your middle ear and infects you're really in the shit.



PS: I think you only lose balance when you cop a large hit to your ear. And besides, it only lasts for twenty minutes or so. After that your other ear takes over.

[lessormore]

I had a burst eardrum while surfing large surf in Sydney a few years back. Fell from the top of a wave and slapped the side of my head on the water. For the next few minutes I had no idea which way was up or down. I grabbed my legrope, pulled in the board and got washed into the beach. A diver told me loss of balance was due to the temperature difference between the two ears (from cold water entering one),resulting in vertigo.Result= no surfing till it healed.
Here is something found with google -

f the perforated eardrum is due to a sudden traumatic or explosive event, the loss of hearing can be great and ringing in the ear (tinnitus) may be severe. In this case the hearing usually returns partially, and the ringing diminishes in a few days. Chronic infection as a result of the perforation can cause major hearing loss.

from here-http://www.entassociates.com/perforation.htm

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[Karlos]

Thanks guys, but I knew I shouldn't have listened to you blokes. Just popped into a local medical centre & was told my diagnosis was indeed correct & that I need to stay out of the water for 6 weeks. Doc was a surfer as well, but still insisted it was in my best interests to do the right thing. And that's on top of a recent 2 month spell out of the water.

I still reckon the wad of wax I stuck in there yesterday worked pretty well. :?

As for tinnitus, I know I've got that as well, albeit not too severe I've always presumed, though it's not like I've got anything to compare it to. I've lived with a ringing in my ears for years now & couldn't imagine not having it.

[2nd Reef]

I need to stay out of the water for 6 weeks.

Look, I don't have a medical degree or anything, and homestyle treatments have backfired on me before, but I really don't think you need that long out of the water Karlos. Especially not if the surf is pumping. I've surfed not long after breaking an eardrum by whacking blu-tac in my ear, a swimming cap on my head and a Gath helmet covering the lot. That was in Indo, so I was sweating like a left testicle but it worked fine.

As long as no water gets through your sweet.

[PeepeelaPew]

...

[2nd Reef]

Yep, it was one of those thick silicon numbers too so it didn't deteriorate in the heat.

Was fcuken hot but I got to surf....

[Grooter]

Thanks guys, but I knew I shouldn't have listened to you blokes. Just popped into a local medical centre & was told my diagnosis was indeed correct & that I need to stay out of the water for 6 weeks. Doc was a surfer as well, but still insisted it was in my best interests to do the right thing. And that's on top of a recent 2 month spell out of the water.

Fark something is going on around here, I'm out for another few weeks still with my back, sean has got some ankle/knee surgery thing going and now you with your ears....

[Karlos]

I need to stay out of the water for 6 weeks.

Look, I don't have a medical degree or anything, and homestyle treatments have backfired on me before, but I really don't think you need that long out of the water Karlos. Especially not if the surf is pumping. I've surfed not long after breaking an eardrum by whacking blu-tac in my ear, a swimming cap on my head and a Gath helmet covering the lot. That was in Indo, so I was sweating like a left testicle but it worked fine.

As long as no water gets through your sweet.

That's what I'm figuring on, though I'm not sure about the swimming cap look. Blu-tac, or wax & I suppose the swimming cap if it gets real good out there & I can't help myself. If I was in Indo I would've probably poured some sort of cement in there to plug it up. There'd be no way I'd be staying on the boat while everyone else got to surf. Not a chance.

[Karlos]

Thanks guys, but I knew I shouldn't have listened to you blokes. Just popped into a local medical centre & was told my diagnosis was indeed correct & that I need to stay out of the water for 6 weeks. Doc was a surfer as well, but still insisted it was in my best interests to do the right thing. And that's on top of a recent 2 month spell out of the water.

Fark something is going on around here, I'm out for another few weeks still with my back, sean has got some ankle/knee surgery thing going and now you with your ears....

And that's following on from a neck thing that kept me out for 2 months. Someone might have dropped a curse on these forums or something. Then again it's probably more a reflection of our advancing years.

[daryl]

Sorta related, it's like when I lost my left nut and it may have initially been the result of going in the water with an open wound .

If it's clear, say after a day or couple of sun, the water is sterile of bacterial infections, or similar.

When it's cloudy, you don't want to be in it with an open gateway to infection

Remember those constant lame references in the RS surf reports reminding people who ar eimmunocompromised to stay out of the water, well that.

[Jimi]

I busted my eardrum by getting lipped square in the ear, had the full loss of balance, couldnt stand up even in waist deep water, and felt like i was hallucinating, the beach was waving up and down like a big swell does. Pain was pretty instant, and blocking the nose and blowing resulted in a dirty bubbling noise of water deep in the ear.
I didnt need 6 weeks out of the water though, more like three, and take at lease a ten day course of clarytine (the hayfever stuff), mine was infected but the antihistamines cleared it up pretty well.

[marcus]

Karlos, sorry to here about your ear.
there are heaps of threads in the Health, injuries, exercises, etc section about burst eardrums and blu tac if you are interested.

http://forum.realsurf.com/forum/viewtop ... =13&t=3705
(sorry couldnt find more, search function on forums doesnt work )


Zingomar, i took some sticks of blu-tac to Indo in my medical kit, cant remember if i used it though.