Hands free equalization question.

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Hi, I have a question about hands free equalization, it's to see if I'm doing it right or getting the physical part down. When I do hands free I close the throat and have the back of my tongue pushing the back roof of my mouth and release the tongue and throat and repeat. Is this correct? Can anyone who can do hands free equalization inform me on how the body should operate with it?
 
I just move my jaw forward. But it took me a while to figure out how to do it correctly. Not everyone can equalize using the same method. Find what works for you and use it.
 
The most common hands-free equalizing method is the Frenzel Maneuver. Here is a link to a bunch of how-to YouTube videos.
Frenzel is done closing the nostrils!
The most used hands-free method is BTV, which does not require to do ANYTHING, just open the tubes, using the proper muscle, which is there for this purpose.
Problem is that less than 1 over 5 divers can control that muscle...
I learned it at 6 years, when swimming in the pool.
Usually people who have control of the specific muscle also have good control of other things: they can wingle the ears, curve the tongue at U, etc.
Often people learn to control the muscle while performing other actions in the same area, such as closing (raising) the soft palate, yawning or swallowing.
But it must be clarified that pure BTV does not require swallowing, yawning or doing any of these "auxiliary" actions, a pure BTV is motionless, except for the contraption of the muscle which opens the tube.
And the airways remain open, you can breath while opening your tubes.
See here about BTV:
 
Frenzel is done closing the nostrils!

I think you have the names confused. The Valsalva maneuver is closing the nostrils and is the most common method used by Scuba Divers. The Frenzel maneuver was developed by Hermann Frenzel, a Nazi Luftwaffe commander and ENT. They needed a hands free equalizing method of diver bomber pilots who needed both hands to fly the plane.
 
Frenzel is done closing the nostrils!
The most used hands-free method is BTV, which does not require to do ANYTHING, just open the tubes, using the proper muscle, which is there for this purpose.
Problem is that less than 1 over 5 divers can control that muscle...
I learned it at 6 years, when swimming in the pool.
Usually people who have control of the specific muscle also have good control of other things: they can wingle the ears, curve the tongue at U, etc.
Often people learn to control the muscle while performing other actions in the same area, such as closing (raising) the soft palate, yawning or swallowing.
But it must be clarified that pure BTV does not require swallowing, yawning or doing any of these "auxiliary" actions, a pure BTV is motionless, except for the contraption of the muscle which opens the tube.
And the airways remain open, you can breath while opening your tubes.
See here about BTV:
This what people automatically do when they drive up a long grade and change elevation. You “pop” your ears by flexing those muscles. People do it all the time on land but fail to understand this is the exact same thing underwater.
Sometimes it’s hard to help moving your jaw forward and down a little but with concentration it can be done. I’m thinking in terms of keeping the reg in your mouth when you do it. It was explained to me by an old timer instructor once, and then I practiced and figured it out. It is the most simple and best equalization method. You never over pressurized your ears, they just equalize to ambient. I’ve even held this muscle open to keep the equalization constant while doing a long deep descent while freediving.
 
I think you have the names confused. The Valsalva maneuver is closing the nostrils and is the most common method used by Scuba Divers. The Frenzel maneuver was developed by Hermann Frenzel, a Nazi Luftwaffe commander and ENT. They needed a hands free equalizing method of diver bomber pilots who needed both hands to fly the plane.
Did you read the description of the Frenzel maneuver at that link ;-)? Nostrils are blocked.. BTV is done by the same muscle that lifts the soft palate as @Angelo Farina wrote. But this does only open the ET, it does not push air into middle ear, for this you need to use tongue and throat movement. I think this person is teaching it pretty well:
 
Did you read the description of the Frenzel maneuver at that link ;-)? Nostrils are blocked..

Yes I did. That link clearly describes the Valsalva maneuver as "pinch and blow" which is not hands free (I added the bold).

How to Do Hands-Free Equalization (BTV/VTO)
For instance, if you are able to go up a mountain or fly on an airplane without feeling the increasing pain in your ears due to the changes in pressure (without resorting to the popular pinch-and-blow Valsalva maneuver), then you have figured out how to open up your Eustachian tubes without help from your hands.

Also note that this article does not specifically mention the Frenzel maneuver, although there are a few similar techniques. All the hands-free equalizing methods block the nostrils through mussels but not by pinching the nose like the Valsalva maneuver. Check these two Wikipedia articles.


 
Yes I did. That link clearly describes the Valsalva maneuver as "pinch and blow" which is not hands free (I added the bold).

How to Do Hands-Free Equalization (BTV/VTO)


Also note that this article does not specifically mention the Frenzel maneuver, although there are a few similar techniques. All the hands-free equalizing methods block the nostrils through mussels but not by pinching the nose like the Valsalva maneuver. Check these two Wikipedia articles.


Let me copy paste it for you:
The Frenzel Maneuver is performed as follows:[2][3]


  • the way out of the nasal cavity is blocked, typically by pinching the nostrils or by a nose-clip;
  • the way out of the mouth cavity is blocked by the tongue, either performing an alveolar closure (as when the sound [t] or [d] is produced; this is the standard version) or a velar closure (using the back of the tongue; this is the advanced version, leaving very little possibility for the piston movement by the tongue, mentioned below);
  • the larynx is closed, sealing off the lungs;
  • the body of the tongue (or only the back of the tongue, if velar closure has been made) is gently moved upwards and backwards, in order to compress the air;
  • further compression of the air follows from moving the closed glottis upwards (this is easily noticed in the elevation of the "Adam's Apple").

By performing this technique, the compressed air is forced into Eustachian tubes, and thus into the middle ear. In situations where the ambient pressure rises (typical causes are decreasing altitude in the case of an airplane or increasing depth in the case of a diver submerging), the maneuver results in the equalization of the pressure on both sides of the eardrum.[2][3]
 
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