Skydiving: The audiological perspective.
Dhanashree Pillay, Shaaista Dada
PMID 29943588WHAT IT FOUND
Skydiving caused significant drops in middle ear pressure, with 9 participants reporting tinnitus and 4 reporting temporary hearing loss.
Clearance forms lacked audiological risk warnings, and only 13 of 31 read the consent form. First-time jumpers received no medical clearance, leaving them unaware of barotrauma risks.
Key findings
01Middle ear pressure dropped significantly after skydiving in both regular and first-time participants.
02Post-jump symptoms included tinnitus in 9 participants, aural fullness in the majority, and temporary threshold shift in 4.
03Dropzone clearance forms contained no information about audiological risks such as barotrauma, and tandem passengers were not medically cleared.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only two dropzones were studied, limiting generalisability. Clearance forms were self-developed by each school and not standardised. The time taken for temporary symptoms to resolve was not measured. No long-term follow-up was conducted to assess permanent auditory damage.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the pressure changes or symptom counts as evidence of permanent hearing damage. The study measured immediate post-jump tympanometry and self-reported symptoms only. Four participants reported temporary threshold shift, but the duration of that shift was not measured, and no long-term outcomes were assessed.