Finally equalising properly!!

[simbrooks]

Well after many horrible experiences when i first started out diving, see posts:
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=519853&highlight=equalize#post519853
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=565445&highlight=equalize#post565445
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=567776&highlight=equalizing#post567776
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=470367&highlight=equalise#post470367
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=460473&highlight=equalise#post460473
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?p=455958&highlight=equalise#post455958
about equalising troubles, bloody nose after diving, stuffed up ears for up to a week and barotraumas up the ying yang.

Somehow my ears have finally gotten attuned to the fact of equalising, they must be more pliable and able to work with me on this now. Its only been 40 dives since i started, but each one has slowly but surely given me less stuffy time after diving, starting at 2 weeks with my first barotrauma and ending the other weekend with an overnight case (felt it before bed, ok in the morning) and now this last weekend all good and that was on dives that were moving around in the shallows which is one of the worst places for ears with pressure changes being the greatest per foot of movement.

So during the bouts of old, a little sudafed after a day of diving, sleeping with head raised to drain my middle ears thru the eustation tubes, playing with equalisation methods and trying to equalise as much as possible, inc on the surface before going under - all have helped me achieve where i am now (also diving several times every weekend for the last few months probably helped too)!! I feel great, like a weight lifted off of me. I was worried about doing multi-dive, multi-day trips due to this trouble and me wasting money on liveaboards by not being able to dive as and when i wanted, but hopefully now that is all through and i can get on and enjoy my diving to the fullest. I thank Pipedope for his video link, DAN also has a good page on equalizing and there is also something in Rodales i believe that all helped me get it together.

I cant wait to get wet again this weekend!!! I hope that others who are having troubles with this annoyance can also find their sweet spot and get through this to enjoy their diving more.

 

[H2Andy]

that's great news, simon!

 

[DandyDon]

Isn't it common for a newbie to have ear problems that get better with practice, skills, and maybe even some tube stretching...

 

[pipedope]

Now go diving!


have fun

 

[simbrooks]

Andy - now i can hear underwater when you are shouting your obscenities when something messes up - j/k

Don - i had heard that "myth" too, but even though my ears were getting better, they still werent that good and i was wondering if i would have to deal with this hassle after every dive - not being good for my ears nor making diving quite the enjoyable sport that i want it to be for me. I was beginning to wonder if they would stop doing this stupid thing. I know the myth, but wasnt sure it would work out for me due to ear surgery when i was young and possibly having scarred eardrums from that - but now i am glad that they are better and was hoping others might like to hear that the myth is true in some cases, even those it seemed kind of lost to.

Michael - its my intention to dive much more, however its not going to be much more than every weekend until i get some cash for a week away somewhere! But i am still aiming at >100 dives (or >80 hours whichever comes first) per year if i can.