equalising my ears

[Diver1313]

I have just completed my OW qualification and found it amazing fun especialyl the open water dives. However i did have trouble equalising my ears. I could not equalise my ears at all using the nose pinching method no matter what depth i tried it at. Eventually i tried equalising ym ears by swallowing which relieved the rpessure on my ears and enabled me to get down over 20 metres. However that took a while and then on the ascent my ears began to squeak at high pitches and crackle until i reached the surface. I definitly do not want o damage my ears and was wondering if this was the reverse squeeze i have been told about..or whether it was ok. I do not feel nay pain but it was quite worrying on my second dive.

Thanks

 

[Diver1313]

plz help..i am quite worried bout this and i am diving next in october with my instructor so wont b able to ask him until then!

 

[papps953]

I have never experienced a problem (in my short diving experience) with the ascent. I used the nostril pinch method of equalization on the descent. If I rememeber correctly my instructor told me the ascent equalization is automatic. If you can equalize on the way down, there shouldn't be any problem with air escaping on the way up.

Bill

 

[Tom Winters]

Hey, whatever you have to do to equalize is great. Don't worry if you're doing it right or not - your ears will let you know - listen to them...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I actually had a young man who needed to equalize on his first two dives by taking the reg out and making a yawning motion with his mouth every 2-3 ft of the descent on his two initial dives. It worked for him. Subsequent dives he was able to equalize with out having to take the reg out but he still used the yawning motion method coupled with the nose pinch. Hey whatever works and by the way it does get easier for most people as you practice it more. This means DIVE AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!

 

[moneysavr]

My first dives were a bit hard but after that no problem,I think I cleared the crud out of my tubes!
But dont push it! If need be see a good ENT Doc.
Man this diving thing is fun!
Brad

 

[PavoDive]

Nose pinching (valsalva maneuver) works for the vast majority of divers, so feel happy of being in the "elite" (no, I'm not in the elite ).

To facilitate the process, you may want to tilt your head a little to the opposite side of the problematic ear, that will stretch a bit the tube and ease the passing of air to/from the middle ear (this works also during ascent. The squeaking and crackling is the air trying to escape the midlle ear, so anything you do to help it is good). Remember also to start equalizing your ears as you leave the surface, waiting till you experience discomfort will prove not very wise.

You can try to very, very gently equalize while at work, home, etc., say no more than a few (3?) times a day, to exercise your eustachian tubes. If nothing else works, go and pay a visit to your MD.

Happy bubbles!

 

[wetrat]

My sinuses pop and squeel on both decent and ascent. My ENT told me it was just air moving between my sinus cavities and as long as it was moving I was OK. He said PAIN is the best indicator of problems equalizing. If you aren't in pain, I wouldn't worry.

Oh, not sure about other agencies, but SSI considers yawning, jaw-wiggling and swallowing to be equalizing methods. I remember that because it was a question on the open water exam!

wetrat

 

[sealskin98]

Ditto the above. If you didn't have any pain, then maybe there wasn't that much of a problem. It takes some getting used to and I'm glad to see that you are safety conscious...but...See my disclaimer...I'm not an expert, or of the medical profession.

You can use the feeling in your ears to gauge your depth, especially if you have no visual reference in the water column...If they start to hurt like there is more pressure on them then you're sinking...if they start to "crackle"...(that's what mine do on ascent)...then you're rising. It seems like my left ear gives me more problems on descent than my right one does.

From this limited information of not being there and my limited experience, I think that with no pain you Maybe didn't have a reverse squeeze…This is assuming...(I now, when you assume)...that you don't have any previous eardrum problems...but I could be wrong. I've seen a reverse squeeze blow-out happen when someone went from 90 fsw. to 70 fsw. Blew the eardrum. But the person had several eardrum blow-outs in a 30 year diving career so the eardrum was pretty weak. I've had one pin-hole rupture when I first started diving, and haven't had any problems since. I have had some pain when descending, just stop and go up a few feet in the water column like you were trained to do.

And of course equalize several times in the hours (or hour) before you dive. Get them eustation tubes open!

I have had the "chin up and swallowing" or “yawning” thing work for me when the nose squeeze wasn't working well (sometimes the head first descent works for me). What ever works at the time, and be careful.

And don't let a dive trip leader force you to go down if you have problems. I had a DM in a location that I won't name grab my fin and pull me down when I was at about 30 fsw. after I had signaled that I was having problems with my ears.

It looks like you are on the right track...if you have problems, ASK!

Gee, this can be a fun thing, more diving=more practice on equalizing

If anyone else can chime in on this I'm all ears.

 

[pipedope]

To learn a lot more about your ears, diving and how to stay happy with both, go to;
http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/
and watch the streaming video, "The Diver's Ear - Under Pressure"

It will help you understand what is going on and how to make things go easier.

It does get easier with practive.