A call to divers who have experienced ear injuries.
I (21M) got my open water license at 12, and completely destroyed my eardrum 1 year later via an unrelated physical injury. There was nothing left, and I required a skin graft (where they take a piece of skin from the back of your head/inner ear) which could only be performed ~8 months later. I made a full recovery and have 99.9% of my hearing, better than most of my family members funnily enough. I get infections often but nothing severe, and find myself occasionally struggling with pressure changes on land, and immediately within water (can't equalise/when I do I feel that pop and distant muffled vacuum scream in my ear).
From research I see plenty of people successfully dive following ear injuries similar to mine. And I was wondering if anyone has experienced a more 'severe' case like mine.
My doctor says I would benefit from a eustachian tube dilation too, but I have no clue if that would actually benefit me or help me dive again.
TLDR: I had a severe eardrum perforation, how have you navigated that and been able to dive again?