PLEASE help me pop my freakin' ears!

[Cudabait]

Scuba-T,

I don't have a dog in this fight and what I'm about to say may be a little late in this thread....

Don't push the envelope...this is all pretty simple. Mostly learned technique.

Try this, it ain't rocket science: While out of the water, anywhere you choose, in bed, driving your car, etc. just plain swallow. While you swallow, listen. do you hear a little crackling sound in your ears? Not loud but audible? If you can hear this little noise then your tubes are clear and the problem is going to be with your technique.

If you can hear the little noise, then next time in water, start swallowing at the surface before going under making sure you can hear the little noise. As you slowly descend continue to swallow and listen for the little noise. Also at this point, just pinching your nose will help. You don't necessarily have to blow.

Now, if you can't hear the little noise above the surface, it is a good indicator that your tubes are NOT clearing properly and you should by all means consult with a diving ENT.

Regards,

 

[beachdivequeenbelam]

I use a Proear 2000 mask and I don't have hardly any problems ever with clearing. Water temp affects how well you can clear because the temp of the water can kinda shock the eardrums in manner of speaking and then react by pain even if you are clearing. The pain can cause swelling so as the day goes on you can clear as well and you get that full feeling in your ears for a few hours to a day after you dive. You have to equalize like normally but the mask keeps water out of your ears so it can cause less of a problem

 

[beachdivequeenbelam]

ALso my ENt told me to take an Allergy and Sinus med that is 12 hours to 24 hours non drowsy and use AFRIN 30-60 minutes prior to the first dive of the day. He also gave me FLonase to use for 2 weeks prior to a long dive trip( like a weeklong trip)

 

[MSilvia]

Be careful using decongestants while diving. If it wears off underwater, your ascent will be mighty unpleasant as the gas in your head won't have anywhere easy to escape to. Is your ENt a diver?

 

[topflowerrubberforever]

my uncle is a doctor and recommended flonase or nasonex for me.. he used to dive and he said to practice equalizing out of the water.. its like training your ear muscles or something.

Jay

 

[Xanthro]

As someone posted earlier, it's important to equalize often, because if enough pressure differential is created, you can get into a situation where you can't equalize.

I've rarely had problem with equalizing, either in water or flying.

Last flight, I fell asleep, something I commonly do on flights, but this time was on the ascent. The pain in my ears woke me up, and nothing would equalize the reverse pressure.

It was hours of agony until we landed, then the pressure backed off and my ears cleared on their own. Still hurt for days.

For some reason I seem to automatically equalize without thinking while increasing pressure, but have sometimes had trouble with decreasing pressure. The opposite of normal.

Excellent information in this post.

Xanthro

 

[Seabear70]

I had a similar problem long ago, I was convinced that if could not clear my ears my career was over... As a result I actually got a blood blister on my ear drum. I talked to a couple of doctors, and they could find nothing wrong.

On a hunch, I went to a walk in clinic in houston and asked if they had a DMO... It turns out they did. He checked me out thoroughly, and found out that I had a cyst next to one of my eustation tubes and found the blood blister.

After chewing me out on the clock for about a half hour, and doing everything but the poke and pull, he gave me a perscription, some ear drops, and told me to try again in 4 days. I've been diving ever since.

An Ear Nose and Throat specialist may have the training nessecary to deal with your problem, but I recommend you find a diving specialist they have the experience. I cried when he told me I would be able to dive again.

 

[paige_va]

Is your problem in both ears??? I ask because I was having problems equalizing, as well, but the problem seemed invariably to be in my left ear. I made it through my vacation, but the flight home was somewhat uncomfortable, and my ears felt clogged for days afterwards. After denying for about a week that I needed to go to the doctor, I finally went. Come to find out that I had a middle ear infection...Actually, both ears were infected, but the left one was much worse, probably the reason that I was noticing the equalization problem in that ear more than in my right.

 

[beachdivequeenbelam]

I wanted to know if anyone knows of a Diving specialist close to TN. I want to talk to them about my DIvemaster physical. I have to equalize a lot and go down slowly. I am always put with new students in classes who think they may have trouble with the ears. I give them all my tricks and we practice them all going down and no one has had to much problems until this weekend and I meet a student who takes twice as long as myself to get down. I reconized her problem immediately. She had poor bouyance. I mean she was new working on OW so of course she did. I learned at the very beginning that my buoyance was key to clearing my ears. I learned to hover almost immediately because of it. When I had problems when I got my new BC with buoyance I thought my ear drums were going to bust. i never have this problem in the ocean though. It is only the quarries. I can equalize it just takes longer than most and my ENT treats me for the seaonal allergies as they come up in the year. I have no problem in the winter with allergies but I can't stand cold water go figure.

 

[Cen_Fla_Keith]

Now I am WAY too new to all of this to offer advice, but I did discover on my very first pool session that I CANNOT clear my ears by holding my nose and trying to breath through it. Kind of spooked me when I tried this repeatedly and nothing happened. Then, however, I tried swallowing (just like on the airplanes) and everything cleared just fine.