Has Reverse Squeeze ever happened to you?

I decided to ask this question due to my concerns in another thread.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=112307&page=1&pp=10

Has anyone ever been effected by reverse squeeze? I know most everybody has probably felt a squeeze before during acent but has anyone actually damaged their ears due to this topic?

For my first quarter century diving I always believed "if you can clear 'em going down, they'll clear coming up."
I was wrong.
I was diving COZ about ten years ago and having a hell of a time clearing for some reason - allergies maybe, or some low-grade URI. Long story short, on day four, dive two I got a reverse block in the left ear that I could not clear - tried multiple trips back down, slowwww ascent, etc... finally had to surface, blowing the ear drum.
Lesson learned - if you have a hard time clearing, just wait 'til the next dive.
Rick

It has happened to me once, luckily no damage though. I have real bad allergies and usually have clogged ears and a hard time clearing. I usually take allergy meds and/or some type of decongestant for it and had never had a problem. Then I started reading threads about reverse squeeze, and how taking decongestants was like diving with a time bomb and soooo dangerous (note the drama). Well, the only time I got a reverse squeeze was the only dive I have ever done where I didn't take something before hand. Luckily for me I could tell right away what it was and had plenty of air to make a reeaalllly slow ascent, stoping every 2 or 3 feet, and after just a couple of minutes it did resolve itself. The lesson I learned from it is that I should do what I know is right for me, instead of making the descision to dive without taking the allergy meds based on someone else's opinion.

av8er23:

Has anyone ever been effected by reverse squeeze?

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yes, but only mildly, a few times. there was one time when it became
painful enough to be of concern, but luckily the pain dropped to
"bearable" after a while, and i made it up.

Rick Murchison:

finally had to surface, blowing the ear drum.

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It might be advantageous for a thread on reverse block to carry an example of this situation, and ultimate recovery. Are you comfortable to share more details?

SmokingMirror:

It might be advantageous for a thread on reverse block to carry an example of this situation, and ultimate recovery. Are you comfortable to share more details?

Click to expand...

Well, I'm a retired carrier aviator, so my hearing ain't exactly pristine to start with, but as far as I can tell I had no lingering damage, unless my already annoying tinnitus got a little worse. I laid off diving for six weeks after the injury.
Rick

av8er23:

I decided to ask this question due to my concerns in another thread.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=112307&page=1&pp=10

Has anyone ever been effected by reverse squeeze? I know most everybody has probably felt a squeeze before during acent but has anyone actually damaged their ears due to this topic?

Click to expand...

It happened to me. I went down a bit and pinched my nose and sucked in. It cleared.

I had a reverse squeeze in only one ear on a dive a couple of months ago. It didn't cause any damage or even ear pain, but it caused me to have an extremely bad case of vertigo for a couple of minutes. My buddy had to help me find my way back to the boat.

Since then I have learned a technique that may be useful for those that suffer from reverse squeeze. It's called the Toynbee Maneuver. To do it, you simply plug your nose and swallow. The muscles in the back or your throat pull your Eustachian tubes open, and with your nose plugged you create a mild suction. The most challenging part is coming up with something to swallow. If you get cotton mouth you may have a hard time swallowing. I guess you could bring in some water. YUMMY! :11:

Here is a pretty good list of other techniques you can try to equalize both on the descent and ascent (http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/MEbaro.html). Plugging your nose and blowing (the Valsalva Manuever) is the most intutive equalization technique for descent, but it is also the most tramatic. After a week on a live aboard your ears will be begging you to stop blowing against them. There are other less tramatic ways of equalizing that are worth a try.

I have had a reverse sinus squeeze on two occasions. Both times I failed to take my sudafed before diving and I had a little congestion. I equalized fine going down. I have never done that again. The head ache is really bad.

has happened to me twice. I was able to come up both times without injury, just took me quite a long time. If you are diving a little congested/on meds, not that you really should but people obviously do, it's good to leave yourself extra air in case you need it for this.