Equalizing at Greater Depths?

McLovinIt · Dec 1, 2009

Hey guys and gals....I've been down to about 30' several times so far. Had an uncomfortable experience one time, but nothing major. While descending, I was equalizing fine. Got to the bottom comfortably and after about 10 minutes, my sinuses felt like they were going to explode (or implode-couldn't tell the difference). Just wondering.....

1. What would cause my sinuses to do this after a comfortable 10 minutes?

2. Does the need to equalize get less frequent the further you descend?

Thoughts and opinions....Please!! Thanks!

TSandM · Dec 1, 2009

Well, it's hard to come up with something that would make your sinuses hurt after 10 comfortable minutes, unless a) you actually hadn't equalized them, and they got progressively painful, or b) you were actually going up and down, and had some kind of block.

If you think about the physics of pressure changes, the first thirty feet doubles the pressure, the next thirty feet only increases it by another 50%, the next thirty feet only by 33% . . . so yes, you need to equalize less frequently as you descend. The biggest problems are in the shallows, which is why it's so important for buddies to stay together on descent, because that's a common time when someone may have trouble or need to abort the dive.

Garrobo · Dec 2, 2009

Never had that problem. The deeper I go the easier it is for me to equalize. At about 40-50 feet I can equalize just by exhaling through my nose. I dive wrecks a lot and at 100 feet or more I've never had to equalize unless I start yo-yoing.

McLovinIt · Dec 2, 2009

Thanks guys! Wasn't going up and down when the problem started. I was on the bottom on my knees doing skills like reg clears. It started up right after that and right before I did the mask clears. Needless to say...it made clearing my mask difficult. I was hoping that clearing the mask would help the situation but I didn't want to blow a gasket in my head either!! It did help, but only a little. It finally subsided as I was ascending while doing the buddy breathing skill. Didn't happen again all day. Seems kinda weird even to me (as a rookie) and nobody I've talked to has experienced this before.

DA Aquamaster · Dec 2, 2009

What often happens is that divers clear when they start to feel discomfort and at the bottom of the descent may be somewhere between fully equalized and uncomfortable. But they are still not equalized and over the course of several minutes the same reaction occurs to the unequalized condition. Personally I think this is actually more problematic than just pain in temr sof reverse blocks, etc. So be sure to clear when you reach max depth.

BKP · Dec 2, 2009

Is it possible you had mask squeeze, and it took a bit of time to affect you? Mask squeeze will exert negative pressure on your sinuses (just a puff of air through your nose mitigates this), however, since your ear canals are an extension, it will ultimately exert a negative pressure in your inner ear as well (simulating a growing external positive pressure).

Just a thought...

Jim Lapenta · Dec 2, 2009

You may have also not been equalizing enough on the way down. And being new for some it takes time to get used to having to equalize. Also get off your knees. Divers do not dive or do skills on their knees.

RJP · Dec 2, 2009

Jim Lapenta:
Also get off your knees. Divers do not dive or do skills on their knees.

When I read the OP's post I thought to myself "I wonder if Jim will chime in on this..."

:eyebrow:

RJP · Dec 2, 2009

McLovinIt:
Needless to say...it made clearing my mask difficult. I was hoping that clearing the mask would help the situation but I didn't want to blow a gasket in my head either!! It did help, but only a little.

Sounds to me like you must have developed some congestion on the dive, otherwise it would not have effected your ability to clear the mask.

PS - Jim Lap is right about being getting off your knees!

ligersandtions · Dec 2, 2009

I'm curious what the OP's instructor would say if he decided to start hovering, rather than staying on his knees as he was instructed. It's definitely something I would encourage (though I would also encourage talking to the instructor first and asking why you're doing skills on your knees and let him know you'd prefer to be hovering, like you will on any normal dive).

As for your ear issues, I would suspect that you were not fully equalized and didn't realize it until a little while afterwards when you started having pain. Either that, or maybe you're coming down with a cold (or are on the tail end of one). In my AOW class, I was coming down with a cold. Two of the three dives we did on the second day were fine....but by the time we got to the third dive, my head felt like it was going to simultaneously implode and explode. I've vowed never to dive like that again....I placed too much importance on finishing the class that day rather than coming back a week later to finish.

Equalizing at Greater Depths?

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McLovinIt

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TSandM

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Garrobo

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McLovinIt

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DA Aquamaster

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BKP

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Jim Lapenta

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RJP

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