Age, Health, Certification and Trim

[edhjr]

Certification continues to elude me as of now standing water behind my eardrum will not drain. I've seen a doctor and have taken a decongestant with no relief. I see an ear, nose throat specialist next week, hopefully I can return to the certification process.

In the pool when I am 12 ft under I experience severe ear and mask squeeze. I attribute my ear discomfort to an earlier incident involving water and ear infection.

I am concerned how much longer I can safely dive at age 67? At the last pool session, I was not feeling well but because I said would be there, I went anyway. It was a huge mistake trying to practice skills especially with a new BC that was not properly weighted. That was my last pool session, I'm looking forward to the next pool session to experiment with proper weights and distribution.

 

[rongoodman]

Sorry to hear about your ear issues. OTOH, when I was your age I was getting my rebreather cert and at 75 next year I'll be doing trips to Socorro and Cocos(again).

 

[boulderjohn]

In the pool when I am 12 ft under I experience severe ear and mask squeeze. I attribute my ear discomfort to an earlier incident involving water and ear infection.

I am a little confused about this part. Is this happening in class, or are you just trying this in a swimming pool on your own?

• If this is happening in class, something is wrong with your instruction. You should never get to 12 feet while experiencing ear and mask squeezes. You should be equalizing as you descend, and you should not descend if you are feeling pain. That should be taken care of long before you reach 12 feet.
• If you are on your own, wait until you are in class so you can be taught how to equalize. It is much, much easier when you are using scuba equipment than if you are just holding your breath and going to the bottom of the pool.

 

[edhjr]

I am a little confused about this part. Is this happening in class, or are you just trying this in a swimming pool on your own?

• If this is happening in class, something is wrong with your instruction. You should never get to 12 feet while experiencing ear and mask squeezes. You should be equalizing as you descend, and you should not descend if you are feeling pain. That should be taken care of long before you reach 12 feet.
• If you are on your own, wait until you are in class so you can be taught how to equalize. It is much, much easier when you are using scuba equipment than if you are just holding your breath and going to the bottom of the pool.

I'm in class, taking a break until clearance from my physician. Interesting note is acupuncture helped remove water from behind my eardrum. Ear nose throat appointment 08/19. If it continues my scuba days are over.

 

[edhjr]

Sorry to hear about your ear issues. OTOH, when I was your age I was getting my rebreather cert and at 75 next year I'll be doing trips to Socorro and Cocos(again).

Thank you I appreciate you support

 

[Subcooled]

In the pool when I am 12 ft under I experience severe ear and mask squeeze.

Can you blow air through your nose on the surface? Because that is the exact way of mitigating mask squeeze.

Ear squeeze is the more critical thing here.

There is nothing wrong with spending 5 minutes or more to descend to 30 feet (or ten feet!). I have to do exactly that occasionally. Descent becomes easier as you go deeper (but it's probably worst at ten feet)

 

[Valyngar]

One solution to continuing ear problems can be getting dryhood drysuit. Some of divers I know have fixed their ears that way. It is warm though, so if you are already diving in warm water it might not be for you.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I was cleared by ear, nose, throat doctor to resume certification process. Instructed not to dive beyond 30 feet, and use sinus decongestion one day prior to dive.
Waiting for Dr's updated health clearance form to resume Sunday pool sessions.
Practicing ear pressure release techniques. If I had known how to depressurize my ears beforehand I wouldn't be in this situation.

 

[GreggS]

I used to occasionally have difficulty equalizing. For a long time, the only way I could equalize was using the Valsalva Maneuver, but I didn't like it because sometimes I would have to blow really hard and finally when the one I was having trouble with would equalize, it would hurt because of the sudden pressure on the inside of my ear. I had tried using my jaw to equalize because I could use that method on land but just couldn't get it done with the second stage in my mouth.

Finally, on a dive trip to Roatan, I got it. I had been used to "popping" my ears by moving my jaw downward and back a little, which was difficult with the second stage. I experimented a little and thrust my jaw forward and viola! It worked. I haven't had to touch my nose to pinch in order to equalize since. It's just so easy to equalize now. In fact, I've had a couple of buddies comment on how fast I can descend without having to stop to equalize. I've also had less ear problems post-dive since I've figured this out.

I also do use Ear Shield pre-dive to coat my ear canals so that the water drains out immediately after dives.

And BTW, I'm 65 years old.

 

[Rukkian]

I was cleared by ear, nose, throat doctor to resume certification process. Instructed not to dive beyond 30 feet, and use sinus decongestion one day prior to dive.
Waiting for Dr's updated health clearance form to resume Sunday pool sessions.
Practicing ear pressure release techniques. If I had known how to depressurize my ears beforehand I wouldn't be in this situation.

If you have to permanently stay less than 30', you will be severely limited. If that is forever, I am not sure I would even bother with certification, but others may disagree. I would probably just do a few discover dives.