Middle ear pressure and symptoms after skydiving.

Objectives: Altitude-related otic barotrauma and its symptoms have been identified from air-travel, scuba diving, and hyperbaric chambers, but not in skydiving. It is not known whether skydiving-related otic barotrauma could cause symptoms severe enough for medical attention or be implicated in skydiving-related accidents. This study assessed the effect of altitude change on middle ear pressures in skydivers by comparing changes in pressure before and after a skydive, pressure changes in those who developed middle ear symptoms vs.