liberato
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If you read DavidHickey's first description of the incident then the cause is almost certainly the phenomenon described here.
Opinions on whether LDS is being fair?
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DavidHickey
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ummm.... what does this most sound like:
1. Middle ear squeeze
2. a hereditary, life-long skin condition
3. a spider who laid eggs in his ear and they hatched...
LOL, the obvious choice would be 1. Middle ear Squeeze. BUT I really don't know how it would affect my scuba diving, BUT I do happen to have a hereditary, life long skin condition. But not Excema. More like Psoriasis. Can anyone tell me how this could affect by ability to equalize?
1. Middle ear squeeze
2. a hereditary, life-long skin condition
3. a spider who laid eggs in his ear and they hatched...
LOL, the obvious choice would be 1. Middle ear Squeeze. BUT I really don't know how it would affect my scuba diving, BUT I do happen to have a hereditary, life long skin condition. But not Excema. More like Psoriasis. Can anyone tell me how this could affect by ability to equalize?
DavidHickey:
Re-read my post about the eczema. Eczema and psoriasis both cause the skin to flake. Those flakes can trap water and can cause a full feeling.
Check Liberato's link, it's also a possibility.
Actually, middle ear squeeze due to late clearing is less common than middle ear squeeze caused by colds, slow clearing, overly forceful clearing etc.
Ask yourself this: who is dumb enough to wait until his ears hurt like hell before trying to equalize?
FatCat:
Many students who are task loaded and descending too fast.
Many students who havn't quite got the nack of equalizing yet and rather than stop or say something push it too far.
If I had a nickle for everytime I had a student tell me that they weren't sure whether they equalized or not but after being down for awhile the discomfort went away, I'd be wealthy. The negative pressure in the middle ear (in relation to ambient) draws fluid in to fill the space and the pressure is equalized but with fluid rather than air. The result is a student who days lateris complaining of still having water in their ears...it aint water.
Often times students can get by in the pool and let it go.
I've had this happen so many times that I have a special lecture just to drive it home before we ever go in the pool and it only rarely happens now. I also explain in the lecture that if they have trouble we'll work on it before going to the deep end of the pool and that if they do get squeezed that they won't be doing any more diving untill it's completely healed...but the class isn't waiting. That usually avoids the whole issue.
It's also why I don't take students to open water until the student is making very controled descents and has a firm grasp on weighting and balance. The infamous butt first plumit that we so often see (in other classes) is an absolute killer on ears.
MikeFerrara:
Granted. "Idiot" was a bit over the top.
IMO, students who feel they are too task-loaded on their descents are either too nervous - and maybe should talk to their instructor - or are under too much pressure from their instructor.
Personally I can only see one reason why an instructor might hurry a student, ie. get the student to go through the pre-dive routine at a fast pace, and that is when the OW dives are done in tidal waters.
FatCat:
Or their just not very good at descending yet.
I thought about this thread Sunday afternoon.
I was working as a DM with an OW class doing their pool dives. One of the students, a 62 year old man, indicated some trouble and wanted to go up. To make a very long story short, we decided he was too ill to continue, and he ended up leaving the class to see a doctor. His wife, also a student, left to drive him. He either had some kind of a stomach flu or a reaction to food; his problems had no relation to the diving itself.
When he was gone, the instructor made a very nice speech to the rest of the class about the importance of using your judgment to abort any dive if you sense that something is not right. He praised the man's decision to stop.
However, while I was working with him in the locker room before he left, he was concerned about this. The issue of wasted money came up, and he did not want his wife especially to leave the class and waste the money she had spent. I assured them that this was not an issue. They could both come back to join another class when he was feeling better, with no additional charge. They needed to make the right decision based upon his health alone.
From the other posts, it seems to me that part of the issue with the LDS in question was the lack of another class in the reasonable future. I hope that is the only reason that a reasonable compromise could not be made here.
I was working as a DM with an OW class doing their pool dives. One of the students, a 62 year old man, indicated some trouble and wanted to go up. To make a very long story short, we decided he was too ill to continue, and he ended up leaving the class to see a doctor. His wife, also a student, left to drive him. He either had some kind of a stomach flu or a reaction to food; his problems had no relation to the diving itself.
When he was gone, the instructor made a very nice speech to the rest of the class about the importance of using your judgment to abort any dive if you sense that something is not right. He praised the man's decision to stop.
However, while I was working with him in the locker room before he left, he was concerned about this. The issue of wasted money came up, and he did not want his wife especially to leave the class and waste the money she had spent. I assured them that this was not an issue. They could both come back to join another class when he was feeling better, with no additional charge. They needed to make the right decision based upon his health alone.
From the other posts, it seems to me that part of the issue with the LDS in question was the lack of another class in the reasonable future. I hope that is the only reason that a reasonable compromise could not be made here.
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