More ear equalization questions

[robby13]

Ok, I want to continue this a bit more...

If I do the Valsalva Maneuver right now I can feel the pressure build up and even escape in my right ear while my left ear doesn't seem to do much of anything.

After the manuever I can yawn or swallow and both ears will click. After the bad experience I had last weekend my paranoia seems to be taking over.

What do the two different results mean?

Why don't both of my ears clear the same way?

Thanks in advace.

 

[Braunbehrens]

My instructor always told us BEFORE we geared up to do a valsalva. Her point was that if you had a problem doing it then, there was no point in going any further.

It sounds like one of your ears is in a little bit of trouble, or maybe it's just formed different than the other. The question is can you make some positive pressure in your ears? If one goes before the other, that's ok, so long as you can get both to work.

When doing a valsalve, do it very gently. I always try do it slowly, so that if anything feels painful I can stop. Absolutely do it before you descend. If you forget, go back up, do your valsalva, and THEN start your descent. You should be doing valsalvas all the time in the first 20 feet or so, and then you need to do them less often.

There is a method by which you can just keep the ears open so they equalize continuously. I'd love to learn how to do it, but haven't yet managed to learn how. I think this would be the best for your ears...but it would take some time to learn it.

 

[robby13]

Braunbehrens once bubbled...


There is a method by which you can just keep the ears open so they equalize continuously. I'd love to learn how to do it, but haven't yet managed to learn how. I think this would be the best for your ears...but it would take some time to learn it.

Which method are you talking about? Do you remember the name?

 

[Braunbehrens]

This link has more interesting stuff on this subject

http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/MEbaro.html

 

[Braunbehrens]

Also check out the streaming video from this page

http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/index.html