After dealing with ET Dysfunction since I began diving in 1971, I underwent the ET balloon dilation procedure in December 2022. The next year (2023) I was on multiple cross country and international flights and was surprised how easily my right middle ear pressure spontaneously equalized on...
Last DecemberI had balloon dilation of my right ET and noticed immediate improvement when flying. It wasn't until this past Septemeber that I could try it out scuba diving. Fantastic! For the first time since I began diving in 1971 I was able to almost spontaneously equalize the pressure in...
I had balloon dilation of my right ET last December and noticed immediate improvement when flying. It wasn't until this past Septemeber that I could try it out scuba diving. Fantastic! For the first time since I began diving in 1971 I was able to almost spontaneously equalize the pressure in...
I had the balloon dilation of right ET today in Raleigh NC.
Equalizing my right middle ear has been a problem since I learned to dive in 1971.
I look forward to finding out how well it works next time I dive or fly or drive into the mountains.
This month I finally uploaded the diver ear talk I've given at dive shows for years and a demonstration of sinus irrigation. Maybe they will help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGcBaeQb408
Ten Ways to Equalize Middle Ear Pressure Naturally - 2014 - Presentation given in January 2014 at...
There is no way to avoid stressful events in diving other than not diving. Learning to control your anxiety by controlling your breathing is the best way to handle anxiety and panic along with lots of repetitive training of the basic dive skills and experience. As already said, "STOP, BREATHE...
'Panic' is NOT a non-thinking survival response which inevitably leads to death despite a myth that has permeated the dive community since the late 1960's. As I have posted many times on Scuba Board over the last 10 or more years and as I have spoken at dive shows on this topic, there are...
While panic and anxiety are still common among divers, regardless of their age or gender or certification or experience or recency of diving, it is rarely the cause of scuba deaths according to the fatality data analysed by Diver Alert Network (n=947). As I prepare my talks for...
Panic can be reliably predicted in scuba students using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. However, it does NOT predict panic in certified divers as i showed in our surveys about ten years ago. Panic can not be absolutely prevented. In fact, most divers will experience it at some...
Stress and Panic Management for Divers:
Training Exercises for Controlling Diver Stress & Panic*
Part 1: The Causes and Symptoms of Diver Stress - (reproduced with permission of Tom Griffiths, Ed.D.)
Part 2: The Calming Breath Response (Diaphragmatic Breathing) - (reproduced with permission of...
When I have represented NeilMed Pharmaceuticals Sinus Rinse at scuba trade and consumer shows, the official company policy is that irrigation should only be performed using distilled water, never tap or other water. The two recent deaths involved water that was not distilled.
Another comment...
Overall, a good article, but it repeats a myth about panic that has been circulating since the sixties: "This situation (panic) results in most, otherwise avoidable, scuba diving fatalities and injuries."
I discussed this with Glen H. Egstrom at DEMA Show 2007 in Orlando since his book...
I was certified as a NAUI scuba diver in south Florida in 1971 when I was 18 years old. Back then, the confined water training and open water check out dives were intentionally stressful and anxiety provoking.
Twenty-eight years of diving later (1999) when my kids began to dive, I decided to...
Several years ago an excellent dry chamber study was published that showed that the side effects of decongestants like "Sudafed" cancelled each other out so that there was no net adverse effect on diving. The same group of researchers showed that antihistamines caused problems with drowsiness...
Thank you to all the divers and instructors and dive shops and resorts and live aboards who visited the NeilMed Pharm booth at DEMA Show in Las Vegas last week.
A special thanks to those who also took advantage of the special DEMA Show price and placed orders for the Sinus Rinse bottle kits...
To make your own nasal irrigation solution, mix:
¼ tsp. of kosher or pickling salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
8 oz. of warm tap water
(1 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp baking soda per 32 ounces of water); or just buy Sinus Rinse SystemPremixed salt packets )
Since tap water may have some bacterial...
If you are planning to attend the DEMA Show in Las Vegas in November 2010, please drop by the NeilMed Pharmaceuticals Sinus Rinse exhibit at booth 3315. I'll be there Wednesday through noon Saturday and would like to hear whether or not sinus irrigation has been helping with your congestion and...
NEVER use nasal irrigation with the NeilMed SinusRinse squeeze bottle if either nostril is completely blocked. If you can pass some air through both nostrils, then OK. The fluid has to go in one place and out another. You don't that other place to be through a ruptured ear drum. Some people...
You mentioned that you had used a Netti pot for nasal and sinus irrigation. The Netti pot uses passive gravity to move the buffered saline solution. Several published studies have shown that pulsatile positive pressure buffered saline irrigation is the most effective technique for nasal and...
Nasal irrigation is used when greater volumes of saline are needed, for example, when large mucus crusts build up or nasal/sinus polyps block mucus clearance.
To irrigate your nasal passages, a bulb syringe (used to clear the nasal passages of babies) can be used.
To make your own nasal...
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