Does your mask have on equalization?

[Jasoncassanova]

Equalization: Do it early, and often. If you hear a sound from your ears like air is leaking through, I'd bet you have some congestion/blockage in your inner ear/eustachion tubes. I have a lot of sinus problems and have similar issues, but have learned to deal with them.

For me, I have to stay ahead of the clearing. If I get to the point where I start to feel pressure on my ears and I haven't cleared, it's almost impossible for me to do so without ascending some.

The dangers in this are that if your ears are difficult to clear, you might easily strain too hard to do it and end up causing damage when they finally do "pop." Failing to equalize or over equalizing may lead to baratrauma or other injury.

Additionally, if you manage to equalize on descent, you might find yourself with a reverse block on ascent. I've had a few of those, especially after multiple days of repetitive diving and they can be a bitch. When I know I'm having issues with this I plan my dives so that I can make long sloooooow ascents and multi-level stops to give my ears plenty of time to clear.

I would definitely talk with your doctor for advice on this before continuing to dive. I know someone who ruptured an ear drum like this and it was not a fun experience.

hey you've finally given me a clear understanding of the situation i'm in right now. well the last dives i've had, i realized that if i'm not able to equalize properly during descent, ascending a bit lessens a bit of pressure, then i start equalizing again and start my descent once more. on my ascends i've also noticed that noise that a lot of air is escaping thru, it's seems like during ascends my ears are doing bubbles just like what you do in swimming.

 

[Hoomi]

The same biological mechanism that blocks the airway up to the sinuses when we swallow can be controlled voluntarily. Musicians that play wind instruments often need to close off the sinuses to keep the air pressure on the instrument mouthpiece.

We tend to unconsciously close it off while diving, so that we're not exhaling through the mask. One of the exercises we did in our OW class was breathing through the snorkel or regulator without the mask. If we don't have that "flap" closed to block airflow through our nose, we'll end up sucking water through the sinuses while trying to breathe air when we do that, though.

The trick is learning to balance the open airway/closed airway through the sinuses as needed. We don't tend to think about it, but if we're equalizing by pinching our nose, that sinus airway has to be open.

Take a little time and pay attention to the difference between just breathing though your mouth and breathing through your nose. Blow up a balloon, and pay attention to what's happening at the back of your mouth as you force the air into the balloon under pressure. You most likely already know how to control it; you just have never paid much attention to controlling it consciously before.