Article: POP GOES THE EARS – HOW TO EQUALIZE WHEN DIVING

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OK, so I did go through with my Open Water dive and now I'm certified!!!! I learned plenty about my problems during this dive. Thanks ahead of time for your help, guys.

My first dive of the weekend was fairly miserable as it took me nearly 20 minutes to go 20 feet. I did ask my professor about my issue and told him I could eventually equalize given quite a bit more pressure than the average person. He mentioned this was fine as long as I wasn't feeling any pain (which I wasn't).

By the second and third dives, I was moving those 20 feet very easily (in about 5 minutes). This is still slower than everyone else, and I was being waited on, but I was able to get to the 20 feet marker by slowly going down and literally equalizing every 6 inches (which is still hard).

What I learned next made me happy after all the trouble I was having. The feet after the 20 foot mark are definitely the easiest of all (I went to 60 feet). At those depths my ears equalize audibly and with little to no effort at all, and this made the dive sooo much more enjoyable.

I guess my problem is my ears need to equalize more often, and over time equalization became easer and easier.

So happy about my new hobby :)
 
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@CrimsonLynx first off congrats on getting certified.

secondly if it takes you a bit longer to equalize don't worry about it. better to take your time and get there than force it and injure yourself just because it takes longer than everyone else. my primary buddy has equalizing problems (like you it gets easier as he gets deeper) and for the initial descent i will just keep an eye on him and be near him if he needs me. sometimes he has to ascend a little to ease the pressure but eventually he gets there.

i think the more you do it the easier it gets. personally if i know i am going to go diving in a week or 2 i start occasionally pinching my nose and blow to simulate equalizing, seems to make it easier when i get there.

and remember even if it gets to a point where its not an issue any more you may get the odd dive where its hard to equalize again. don't worry about it, it happens, doesn't mean you have a problem or its getting worse again, even after doing several dives i get the odd one where i struggle a bit

enjoy your diving
 
Head looking UP, looking down pinches the Eustachian canal. Chin thrust OUT, tucked in also pinches. If one ear is more troublesome (usually), tilt that ear toward the surface.
Descend feet first, but don't look down which causes the pinching problem.
Descending heard first ala Seahunt of other diving dramas causes more blood to move to the head engorging capillary spaces in the nose and ear area causing swelling and more problems if you are marginal.

For every technique you can imagine take the time to view this film.

Streaming Video in AVI and Flash Formats.
"The Diver's Ear - Under Pressure"


Then read this article: Prevention of Middle Ear Barotrauma
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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