In his paper on the physiological and otolaryngological aspects of skin diving, Fields1 described a diver who developed a neural hearing loss following a shallow dive of short duration. He added that he had not found a satisfactory explanation for the occurrence of the hearing loss. A similar accident and problem are presented.
Report of Case
A youth, aged 18, was first examined on July 2, 1959, with complaints referable to the left ear: mild pain, tinnitus, and deafness. Five days earlier he had been diving with a SCUBA. His descent was to about 35 feet when he felt pain in his ears and could not equalize. He rose to 20 feet, cleared his ears, and returned to the original depth for a short time. He again returned to 20 feet and terminated the swimming period after 30 minutes. Upon surfacing he noted ringing of the left ear. After