Ear pain when going upwards?

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Thanks everyone! I've taken good note of all your advice. Unfortunately, I'm not a member of DAN, because as so far I've only dived in organised trips with my instructor, which don't happen often during the winter, and which not always suit my availability at the weeked (I live very far from the coast), what I usually do is take a daily or weekend insurance.

As you say, maybe it's time to move on and forget about this instructor. Having an OWD certification, I know I can dive alone (by this I mean going by myself to any dive centre and doing a dive with them, not diving without a buddy), but I thought that the instructor would know my shortcomings better (moreover, most of the people going in his organised trips are also beginners like me).

Would going to an ENT doctor help in some way? As I said, mine tested my ability to compensate, but I suppose she only tried it worked when increasing pressure outside. I wonder whether she'd be abe to find the reason why this happens to me and recommend something. Or will all she'll be able to tell me be the same you've alredy said, that I must go a bit downwards every time I feel some pain and compensate there?

Funny you've mentioned planes. The first time I was in one I was ten years old, and although I don't remember whether I felt pain or not, I know I started crying when we took off because of something happening to my ears. As I say, I don't remember whether it was pain or discomfort, or noises, or what, but it didn't stop until someone gave me a bag of candy to lick. Maybe there's been some issue with my ears from the very beginning. But the next time I boarded a plane I was 26, and it didn't happen again, so I never gave it any importance.

DAN will speak to you without membership.

 

[Fishdip]

Every now and then I have such a sensation, though it's never happened while diving. You might try tilting your chin up slightly, so your neck is fully "exposed." If I do this and touch with light pressure on either side of the cervical lymph nodes or near my adam's apple, I can immediately swallow whether dry or not.

No idea why it works, but it does.

Question did you have tubes in your ears as a child?

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

Question did you have tubes in your ears as a child?

Not that I'm aware of. I did get frequent ear infections.

 

[Fishdip]

Not that I'm aware of. I did get frequent ear infections.

I am still really new to diving 15 dives in so take this at its worth but I have some of the same issue and find I have to go slower coming up then if I was going down. I find just taking it a little slower helps big time.

 

[TheRealScubaSteve]

I am still really new to diving 15 dives in so take this at its worth but I have some of the same issue and find I have to go slower coming up then if I was going down. I find just taking it a little slower helps big time.

Do you also have difficulty swallowing as the OP does?

I have never had difficulty equalizing or suffered a reverse block, fortunately. Slow is a good rule of thumb, regardless of experience.

 

[Fishdip]

Do you also have difficulty swallowing as the OP does?

I have never had difficulty equalizing or suffered a reverse block, fortunately. Slow is a good rule of thumb, regardless of experience.

I was thinking I was replying to the op. I mean I get dry mouth but I lick around my mouth and it fixes it

 

[Fishdip]

I've found a problem with my ears when I dive which I'd like to ask you about, since everybody (including my OWD instructor) says it cannot be as I describe it.

Before being certified, my ENT specialist told me I had no problem compensating my ears after testing them with a device that sort of put pressure on them (I really don't know what it did). During my course, I was told that compensating is important when going downwards, but that on returning to the surface, nothing needs to be done, as the pressure is equalized by itself.

I have never felt any pain when going downwards. I'm not sure I'm compensating well, but I'm always told that if it doesn't hurt, it's correct. When I do the Valsava manoeuvre I don't feel anything. When I swallow spit, I feel my ears pop. The problem is that my mouth is usually dry and I don't know how to swallow without gathering spit. However, they tell me that maybe just moving my jaw plays the trick, or that I may be doing the Valsava manoeuvre well even if I don't hear anything. It could be. I had always assumed that compensation done well would make me hear my ears pop, but I admit that may not necessarily be so, as there's no pain.

When I go upwards, my ears start popping as if there were no tomorrow, without my doing anything. I suppose that's right, too... But it hurts. Not much, but there's some pain, or maybe just a strong feeling of discomfort, I cannot tell (this also happens when diving in a 3-metre-deep swimming pool). I start feeling very anxious in case something worse happens. For hours after the dive, I carry on hearing loud pops whenever I swallow, though there's no pain after I've come out of the water.

All my life, my ears have popped when travelling by car in the mountain, and I've always felt it more when going upwards than downwards.

Is this normal? As I said, everybody with whom I've dived tells me that I shouldn't be feeling anything on returning to the surface. Not feeling pain when going downwards has prevented me from getting too worried about this, but I'd like to know whether I'm doing something wrongly.

I Have been thinking I was reply to you OP. Any ways did you have tubes in your ears?

 

[tarponchik]

If this happens, I go down just a little bit, then try again till it works and the extra pressure goes away with a loud whistling noise. This is always my right ear.

 

[ElizaDoolittle]

Once again, thanks a lot!

I'll talk with my ENT doctor first of all, depending on what she tells me I'll call DAN and, in any case, I'll take extra precautions when returning to the surface.

I've never had tubes in my ears, whatever that is. Nor infections after swimming. The only thing that happens to me about my ears is that I am very sensitive to loud noises, but apart from that, I don't think there's anything wrong with them.

I'll try licking my mouth to see whether swallowing is easier. A friend here has suggested that I think of lemons.

Apparently, I compensate easily when going downwards. I mean, I cannot swallow as often as I'd like. When I do, I hear a pop and I feel very reassured. But in spite of not doing it many times, I've never felt pain when descending. So I suppose it's OK.

As for going upwards, is it safe to assume that swallowing would also be right and fix the problem? I've never stopped and gone a bit downwards, but if I do that and manage to swallow, I suppose I'd be able to ascend a few meters before having to repeat the process, wouldn't I?

I'm positively scared now. When I've dived before, I've believed what I was told that there wasn't any risk, so I've just carried on going upwards hoping the pain would stop once on the surface. But I don't like thinking what would happen if I don't manage to compensate. When you're going downwards, the advice of stopping and going slightly upwards in case of pain looks like an easy thing to do, as in the worst of cases you can abort the dive. But if the solution to my problem is going downwards, I do hope I won't get the feeling I'll be trapped inside the water until I run out of air and have to rush out, risking both damaging my ears and getting nitrogen bubbles.

During all my (few) dives up to now, I've always felt nervous thinking of my ears, and I'm afraid it may get worse.

I'll phone my doctor this afternoon and try to get an appointment as soon as possible so she can check whether there's something wrong, or it's just because of lack of practice.

Thanks, guys! I'm sure you've saved me from having serious ear problems at some point, which would have been likely to happen otherwise.

 

[ElizaDoolittle]

Something I've just remembered.

Long before I even got the idea I might like diving, when I was a child, I remember being recommended the procedure of pinching my nose and swallowing as an experiment about I cannot remember what. When I did it, I felt as if my ears had been blocked and I couldn't hear well, a very unpleasant feeling, when the expected result (at least for those who were with me at the time) should have been very different.

Just in case it means something.