Hi All!
I believe I have just blown a hole in my eardrum and am I need of some advice.
Today I was performing RDL’s for sets of 8 reps at RPE 8. For me this is about 220 pounds.
I generally punch out 2-3 reps on a single breath of air for these to try and reduce the time holding the bar.
During one of my sets, as I was releasing my valsalva and dropping the bar, I felt my left ear pop. No pain, not dizzy, nothing extraordinary, ears pop all the time, whatever.
Finished the rest of my training session as normal.
Afterwards, I went for a swim and my ear instantly filled with water. This does not usually happen to me, but I wasn’t really bothered… ears get water in them from the pool all the time.
But then I held my nose try and pop my ears in an attempt to get rid of the water as people do (I think?) and I realised that I could actually blow air out of my left ear (the one that popped at the gym earlier).
It was a pretty weird sensation and shortly after I got a headache. I can still feel the water bouncing around in there now.
Could the lift have been the cause of a burst ear?
Maybe I was holding on for too many reps?
I am not new to this type of exercise. Can an eardrum deteriorate from this sort of thing?
I am heading to my local GP to get confirmation that it is actually perforated but I am fairly sure already.