markmantei
Contributor
Maybe my hypochondriac side is getting the better of me. To be clear, I have had my ears to a point of light discomfort, but nothing I would describe as pain of any sort. I have had, relatively recently (last 12-18 months), a recurring issue with what I would call questionable blocks, though I have only needed to call one dive due to this issue. I can sink like a rock, equalizing regularly and have no issues (with the one exception noted above). Then if there is any reason to ascend and re-descend during the dive (i.e. bottom profile rises then falls), I will occasionally have difficult with re-descending, which will often take a significant amount of time, even if the starting depth is quite deep and the depth change is quite small. On a recent trip I had several issues. First full day of diving, we were doing surveying a wreck. During the dive we ascended from the side of the wreck to the top (~110' to ~85', I don't have my computer profile handy so I'm ballparking). The descent to the other side of the wreck was difficult, but after taking several minutes I was able to manage (on this dive I also experienced a reverse block starting at about 50', although that did clear by making an exceptionally slow ascent, this was the only time I have experienced a reverse block). On the next day, I had a dive to ~110 feet where we performed a wreck penetration. Following the penetration, we descended to ~140' to the bottom of the wreck. Equalization issues began at ~120' and it took probably another 5 minutes to descend the remaining 20'. The final day I also experienced issues, although this time near the beginning of the dive. We planned on descending to ~130'. Descent to ~110' was uneventful, however at that point I experienced issues and had to ascend, equalize and continue constantly equalizing until 126' which was the deepest I could obtain given that this dive was not a planned deco dive and I was with a recreational diver and I was concerned with his nodeco time. I chose to continue that portion of the dive ~10' above as I didn't want to waste additional time with the descent. If this was the only trip I experienced issues I would probably chalk it up to some amount of congestion, though I had no noticeable congestion during the trip. I have had intermittent issues similar to this both diving locally (in cold water) and on vacation (in warm water). I also feel that the issue is more likely to occur after repetitive diving (later in a multi-day trip). I figured I would try and get a referral from my GP to a local ENT. That said, the recent thread here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/di...ube-function-docvs-fri-am-medical-minute.html makes me question whether the use of the valsalva (generally the only method I use) is potentially also a cause, and maybe I should be practicing alternative maneuvers in the pool as well. I am wondering if the repeated use of valsalva (though like I said, I don't feel it is done with too much force, and never causes pain or discomfort) may be contributing to or aggravating an underlying issue or causing a flare up in some other condition. Thanks for any opinions or advice.
