Liveabord ears thats hurts

[lowwall]

Remember that there are three methods to equalize your ears and sinuses: Valsalva [pinch and blow], swallowing, and moving your jaw from side to side. USE ALL THREE methods, combine them, go from one to another, but USE ALL THREE.

On my last trip I was having trouble equalizing after the first day doing my normal Valsalva every few feet. I was really stuck on one dive at about 15' while everyone else was descending. I tried to remember other techniques and the jaw wiggle somehow appeared in my head. I tried it and to my surprise it helped immediately.

For the descents on the rest of the trip I was a jaw wiggling fool (along with pinch and blow). I'm sure I looked like I was having a seizure, but I didn't care.

I'll add some swallows next time.

 

[Badger7]

Yes, I would generally say that I'm quite good at equalizing and mostly do I without pincing my nose. But I will try to do it even more often.

Often is good, maybe earlier too? I might suggest pinching your nose, on purpose, even if you don't feel like you have to. When I'm doing a lot of diving over a few days, if I'm not very purposefully equalizing I'll occasionally experience some inner ear issues and headaches. What works really well for me is pinching my nose, doing vasalva to pre-charge my ears with pressure before descending, and dropping down a few feet until the pressure equalizes and repeat for the entire descent. If I instead wait for the ambient pressure to be higher outside my eustacian tubes, I can still get a good equalization, and have no issue for a couple dives, but if I try that for 6-8 dives I'll find eventually myself in trouble. What works for me is the pre-charge.

 

[gbf]

I'm with DAN. I and my family have been using the DAN way for multiple decades of mostly Bonaire and liveaboard diving. The following is my post from an old thread.

Per DAN and USN: 50/50 ear beer. 5 min per ear immediately post dive. Time it, don't cheat. The goal is to
a. Dry, hence alcohol. And
b. Create an acidic bacteria unfriendly environment, hence vinegar.

No glycerin, qtips etc. Don't cheat

Search the DAN website. It's a USN study I think from the sixties.

Just got back from 10 days/5 dived per day. No problems using this method..

And here are the links to the DAN articles to save the search:

Can You Prevent Otitis Externa, or Swimmers Ear? — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article

More On Swimmers Ear — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article

 

[Alexander Nygaard]

Often is good, maybe earlier too? I might suggest pinching your nose, on purpose, even if you don't feel like you have to. When I'm doing a lot of diving over a few days, if I'm not very purposefully equalizing I'll occasionally experience some inner ear issues and headaches. What works really well for me is pinching my nose, doing vasalva to pre-charge my ears with pressure before descending, and dropping down a few feet until the pressure equalizes and repeat for the entire descent. If I instead wait for the ambient pressure to be higher outside my eustacian tubes, I can still get a good equalization, and have no issue for a couple dives, but if I try that for 6-8 dives I'll find eventually myself in trouble. What works for me is the pre-charge.

Thanks.
So basically I just pinch my nose, and build up a small pressure all most, all the time when I'm decending?

 

[Alexander Nygaard]

I'm with DAN. I and my family have been using the DAN way for multiple decades of mostly Bonaire and liveaboard diving. The following is my post from an old thread.

Per DAN and USN: 50/50 ear beer. 5 min per ear immediately post dive. Time it, don't cheat. The goal is to
a. Dry, hence alcohol. And
b. Create an acidic bacteria unfriendly environment, hence vinegar.

No glycerin, qtips etc. Don't cheat

Search the DAN website. It's a USN study I think from the sixties.

Just got back from 10 days/5 dived per day. No problems using this method..

And here are the links to the DAN articles to save the search:

Can You Prevent Otitis Externa, or Swimmers Ear? — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article

More On Swimmers Ear — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article

When you say for 5 min, does that mean thar I just add som drops in my ear, let I stay there for 5 min, or should I just let It stay until it dried out by it self?

And why not any glycerin? I just made the formula, but added a tiny bit of glycerin.

 

[Jai Bar]

I usually begin to suffer from ear pain after 4-5 days of intensive liveaboard diving.

In addition to all mentioned methods: equalizing maneuvers, dry ear solutions (50/50 alcohol/vinegar) etc., I also find that keeping the ears warm also helps me. Hence, I often use a hood and if cold or windy outside, a cap that covers the ears.

 

[lowwall]

It's almost like we have two separate threads going here. One is about infections and one about equalization issues.

These have completely different causes and treatments, so maybe start by narrowing down what is causing the problem. The OP did indicate that it was most likely an equalization issue.

 

[Alexander Nygaard]

It's almost like we have two separate threads going here. One is about infections and one about equalization issues.

These have completely different causes and treatments, so maybe start by narrowing down what is causing the problem. The OP did indicate that it was most likely an equalization iss

It's almost like we have two separate threads going here. One is about infections and one about equalization issues.

These have completely different causes and treatments, so maybe start by narrowing down what is causing the problem. The OP did indicate that it was most likely an equalization issue.

Yes, that's right. I'm now almost sure that it's because I'm not equalize often enough, but wait until I can feel a small pressure in my ear. I'm going diving again in the weekend, and will try to equalize even though I can't feel anything, and I will start equalize when my head is still above water.

 

[passeparici]

It's almost like we have two separate threads going here. One is about infections and one about equalization issues.

These have completely different causes and treatments, so maybe start by narrowing down what is causing the problem. The OP did indicate that it was most likely an equalization issue.

It's not that simple. Very often we are not sure. The symptoms are very often quite the same. In is firsts posts the OP said he THOUGHT it could be an equalization problem but actually he doesn't know... I think it's best to take care of the 2 problems.

 

[A Bajo]

I'll add that keeping you ears clean is very important. I use drops that dissolve the ear wax. It allows the ear to drain and become dry. Infections are usually from accumulated water in the ear. I swim all year around and just came back from three weeks of diving 3-5 dives per day. I never put anything in my ears. I try to start equalizing before I feel any pressure and if I start to feel pressure I ascend and then try to equalize. Taking a rest day never hurts either.