struggling diver (e-tubes)

[kevy]

I am a diver who may have a career in diving if I can just get my eustachian tubes straightened out. NOt equalizing properly.

What happened:
Training dive I had great trouble equalizing

what I did:
visited a dive doc. Recovered from the fullness in my ear and recovered the hearing loss. From then on I just could not get down. Visited other dive docs including an ENT. They could see that I was equalizing occassionally and unregularly. I have seen my eardrum (it is fine) and I have seen the eustachian tube inlet in the nasopharynx(it is fine). So... where do I go from here? How do I direct my docs? Is there a way to better test or view the e-tube. Should I be looking at allergies? Is there some techniques to equalize that I should be learning.

All in all it looks grim towards me continuing diving. All I want is to make sure that before I walk away from diving that everything has been done medically.

I figured maybe someone has been down this road and could help.

Thanks

 

[DannyBoy]

Hi Kevy,
Humans were designed for life at 1 atmoshpere of pressure. Over time, humans have decided to venture beyond the 1 ATM realm to enter others, and for most of recorded time this has meant going underwater. Believe it or not, your eustachian tubes control the flow of air to and from your middle ear via two muscles, the levator veli palatini, and the tensor veli palatini (palatine muscles for short). These muscles, like most muscles in the body, are controlled by a section of the top of your brain. Since humans are not pre-programmed, we must learn to do just about everything we need to survive. Most of the muscles we learned to use as a baby, so you probably don't remember what it felt like to move a muscle for the first time. Then there is the case of your ear tube muscles, which have (probably) not been needed much since you were born. The part of your brain controlling your palatine muscles has been asleep your whole life, and you need to wake up that part of your brain.

The U.S. Air Force did a bunch of tests in the 60's and 70's, in an effort to find a way for its pilots-in-training to learn to adjust to rapid changes in pressure. They figured out eventually that repeated exercises, aimed at exercising these palatine muscles, would work towards "training" the brain to contract them on command. They found out that theses exercises worked.

The moral of this long-winded reply is that you should practice clearing your ears until it becomes second nature. You can even practice in the deep end of the pool, where pressure changes are minimal but noticeable. You can use any of the pressure-equalizing techniques outlined in your scuba literature, but the key is to keep on practicing. Sooner or later you will be able to clear your ears with minimal thought or effort. Once you can do so in a pool, you can progress to deeper water. Don't be discouraged that you cannot equalize well at first; this is a common problem for new divers, especially if they are infrequent flyers.
Good luck, and remember to have fun.
Dan

 

[herman]

Hi Kevy,

I too had some trouble clearing in the early days. To make a long story short, by accident I found out that by going down feet first and therefore looking down, I was pinching off my e-tubes (or at least that's what I think it is). I found that if I have my head tilted in an up direction ( away from my chest) I no longer have much trouble. Also, get started clearing EARLY. I "pre" pressurize my ears a little bit before I start down and don't stop equalizing until I am at some depth. And as Dan said, practice. It gets easier as the dives go by. Take it slow and you will get the hang if it.

 

[Don Murray]

I've had very difficult ears for years.

1. Just before going in the water, or going under, hold your nose and try to get a little pressure through the tubes.

2. Descend feet first so you can go very slow for the 1st few feet. Using an anchor or down line makes descent control easier.

3. As soon as your head goes underwater begin using whatever technique works best for you. If you wait until you are are 2 or 3 feet down the pressure difference will close the tubes even tighter. Swallowing hard seems to work for people with closed tubes. Try holding you tongue in different positions (top of the mouth) while swallowing. Tilting the head to one side or the other.

4. Some divers I know just use Sudafed for the first couple of days and some use it every day.

5. Remember if you can feel any pressure/pain at all then there is already some pressure differential closing the tube tighter and you probably should go up a tad and attempt a clear. If using some form of swallowing you may have to do it more than once. All I get is a little squeak with each attempt. Once I'm down to about 25' then everything is OK for the remainder of the dive. Also the more days I do the the easier it gets.

6. A caution about slow tubes when diving in current. A current often means you have to decend rapidly to duck behind something to get out of the current, or stay with a drift dive group. I would stay out of this situation until you've mastered faster clearing.

7. As someone already suggested, practicing in a pool sounds like a good idea.

 

[HMan]

Kevy,
You may want to try using the new ProEar 2000 mask which makes the equalizing process easier. The mask has two silicone tubes which mimic the Eustachian tubes. For more information visit http://www.proear2000.com
HMan

 

[John Reinertson]

As I commented under sinus squeeze, some patients with low-grade allergies or inflammation are helped dramatically by cortisone nose spray, used for about a week before diving.
There are several brands available from your doc.. Nasacort AQ, Nasonex, Flonase, and others.
I can't say what your result would be, but my patients are batting around .600. (not all of them divers-- some pilots, some frequent fliers.)

It sounds like you've had your anatomy checked pretty well.
The exercises are indeed useful.. I practice them before trips.

Dive painless-- it's the ony way to dive!

John Reinertson