Cholesteatoma?

[TrueAce]

Has anyone had this condition. I had to have surgery on my ear when I was a kid about 15 years ago. It hasn't recurred and I don't have a hole in my eardrum but I'm guessing this might prevent me from scuba diving. I'll do some more searching but it would be helpful if anyone knows for sure. Color vision is the only other thing that will probably get me so we'll see. Hopefully I can pass the FALANT. Thanks.

[controversy]

Well Cholesteatoma is automatically disqualifying...http://scuba-doc.com/ftnss.htm Scroll Down to Absolute Contradictions.

But since you hae had surgery I am not sure but because Cholesteatoma may cause the inability to clear, or equalize your ears then you wont be able to SCUBA dive if your surgery unblocked the middle ear.

But i think because if you had surgery that removed it then you should be ok if you dont have any blockage any more...also talk to your doctor because you will have to get a Pre Dive physical anyway before you can begin.

Note: I am not an expert and only know this because of some research i just did which is thanks to Google :) . So please no one yell at me if i got something wrong.

[snow85]

controversy--

the questions is whether or not it's disqualifying to the Navy-- not to civilian scuba certification, however, i can see why you'd be confused. read on....

trueace- what exactly are you applying for? the FALANT is for aviators, who by definition, don't scuba as part of their jobs.

i've posted (more than once) a link to the medical requirements. use the site's advanced search feature and go find it.

[controversy]

snow85-

My bad...but still has the same idea... you cant SCUBA dive without being able to clear you ears....but yes i was not in the right area. sorry...hope you do alright trueace

[snow85]

no prob controversy, and you're right, he'll have to have a dive physical, but it's different.

trueace-- what are you asking about:

ears = scuba?

ears = aviation?

falant = scuba?

falant = aviation?

[TrueAce]

I'm asking to qualify as a SEAL. I can't pass the Ishihara so I'm looking into taking the FALANT and secondly the cholesteatoma is for scuba diving. It would be nice if the gave a vivid green/red test for SEAL's but I'm guessing they don't. These are the two things that will probably stop me from qualifying for training. I'm not sure if I can clear my ears or not although my ear seems to function fine while swimming. It does get clogged a bit easier than my other one though.

[TrueAce]

Does anyone else have any info. or know someone they could ask? I see that cholesteotoma is disqualfying so I'm just not sure if that means forever or if you have a recurring one. It probably depends on what the surgery did to my ear canal. I know the ear drum isn't perforated anymore from what my doctor said but who knows I might not be able to valsalva I guess.