Equalizing

[garyfotodiver]

My son and I have completed our check out dives in Pennekamp and have gotten signed off and I am proud of both of us. He was professional and mature. Handled all of the miscues and performed flawlessly.

We were diving the wreck, "The Eagle", and he was down to the wreck with no problem. I got stuck at about 25 feet and could not equalize. Had to go back up to about 20 feet. Got equal. Went down to 28 feet, had to stop, went back up to 25 feet and got equalized. Either I got more spit in my mouth or just got the technique right, but I went on down to the wreck after that. So we got almost 15 minutes of bottom time exploring around the wreck together. Not much better way to spend the morning for me I can assure you.

Ascending was no problem.

All in all a very rewarding experience.[/QUOTE]


You did the Eagle as a checkout dive?? That's in 90-120fsw. The dive boats I know in Key Largo require AOW certification for that wreck.

My compliments.

 

[Mako Mark]

Great to hear that you are getting the hang of it Jacket_fan.

Here's my two cents worth.

Very few people have funny ears, or bad physiology, it is 90% technique.

If you can fly without major discomfort, you can learn to equalise, just remember that water weighs 800 times more than air, so you have to do it 800 times more often. Thats a lot huh, and most divers, especially beginners descend too quickly. Use the descent line, equalise every handspace, and if you let go of the line, you will have ear problems.

Avoid head first descents.

Cut down on dairy products the day before (they thicken the mucus)

Look UP while equalising.

go easy on the Air con the night before.

and finally come up really really slowly.

Some people snort water just before the dive, this makes the mucus run, and unclogs all the tubes, I find it uncomfortable, but successful on the rare days I have trouble equalizing.

 

[jacket_fan]

Well cancun mark, whether or not I have physiological limitations or not, I think during the 6 dives I made, I tried every single technique mentioned in this thread. I tilted my head every which way but loose, I massaged below my ears, I tried yawning, noises in my throat, blew in my mask etc.

But I will be hard pressed to snort water. Ouch...

I did go to my doctor prior to the trip. He took a look in my ears and had me blow while holding my nose. He said he could see my ear drums move slightly and that although I may not have the biggest eustachian (sp) tubes, I should be able to equalize. I got a referral to an ENT, but insurance and shedules have precluded an appointment

It finally came down to blowing into my nose and swallowing at the same time. The biggest problem is when you have a dry mouth and nothing to swallow. I feel fortunate to have found a technique that seems to work. It did seem to get easier and perhaps perfecting an effective technique will make equalizing that much easier.

Heck, I'm ecstatic I was able to get up and down six times.

garyphotodiver, we were escorted by our dive masters and instructors, so it looks like we were quite fortunate to have been allowed to complete the dive.