Ear advice

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Muzzman

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As mentioned in my earlier post, i have a slight spot of bother with my ears, i can get down but it takes me ages, i don't know if some of it is psychological. I can't wiggle my jaw like some people to equalise and often one ear does but the other doesn't, i really don't know how hard ro blow when holding my nose, i went to the local GP and she said i had small tubes. Any tips, someone said snort sea water and that was a disaster, everything bunged up for weeks.

My last couple of dives, i've had problems on the way up, according to someone i got vertigo because my ears had different pressure. I got very dizzy and it scared the crap out of me.

I've got the next year traveling in places that promise amazing diving, and i really don't want to miss out, but then again i don't want to do any damage to myself.
 
Hi Muzzman -

I relate to most of the stuff you raised. About 10 years ago I started a dive course and dropped out because I simply could not equalise my left ear. (It was also really freaky, that one ear equalised fine, but the other seemed blocked solid). I gave it another bash in 2007 and really struggled. After my first sea dives, I thought that diving was not for me. But, now I am diving reasonably regularly and have no problems equalising. I can only say what helped me and add that one should be wary of advice from strangers on the Internet.

This is what I did:
- Identified the things I was doing that caused mucus build up - and eliminated them as far as possible from my diet and activities.
- Used a hood, even in relatively warm water - when I started it seemed as though any water below below body temp in the ears was not my friend. The hood helped, but I know of other people who find it more difficult to equalise with a hood on.
- Put Swim Seal drops (essentially tea tree oil) in my ears before the dive and Swimmers Ear (surgical alcohol)afterwards
- Decided on using the block-the-nose-and-blow method to equalise. But I did that after trying all the listed suggestions.
- Tipped my head over to the opposite side of the ear that I was struggling with and when necessary wiggled my head a bit as well.
- Equalised on the surface and then again just below.
- Blow hard. This is NOT what the agencies recommend - in fact, the manuals and instructors emphasised that you must never blow hard, but I think I had gone too far in the opposite direction. So I increased the strength of the blow. I did this by starting gently and slowly & steadily increasing the strength; when the right ear equalised I would tip my head towards the right and continue to increase the pressure. As soon as the problem ear equalised I would ...
- Descend still blowing so I would get as much equalisation as possible in one go. This meant once I started equalising, I would drop quite quickly. If the ear blocked I would stop, ascend to a level where the ears were comfortable and repeat.
- Practice equalising on the surface (a lot). By this I mean while at home, in the office etcetra.
- I also think that putting psychological pressure on myself (OMG, I've spent $$$ and need to do this dive to qualify) was not helpful. Messing about in the local quarry to finish qualification and taking things slowly made it a lot easier.

Equalising was difficult in the earlier part of my diving, but these things really made a significant difference. I have no difficulty equalising now, I don't need a hood nor do I need to tip my head anymore to equalise. But for a long time I though my narrow little Eustacan tube in my left ear would stop me from ever going deeper than 2m.

The vertigo is not something I have had to deal with, so I can't describe my experiences there.

CHeers
 
Quick question....do you have any problems if you drive over a mountain range or in the take-off or landing stages of air travel? If no to those questions, perhaps you're not starting early enough. I had the same problem. I'd start a descent vertically and once my head was underwater, I'd go horizontal. By then, I'm already 3' under. I now equalize once my head is under while still vertical and about every 2-3 feet for the first 10-20 feet. No problems.
 
My husband has the same issue - he's also been told that he has very narrow Eustachian tubes. He takes forEVER to clear! Me, I'm one of those lucky ones with fat tubes - a single blow through my pinched nose and I'm fine.

I think you got some good advice already, but I will add this:

1. Unless you are blowing REALLY FREAKING HARD you can't hurt yourself by pinching and blowing. Your brain will not come out of your ears. Pinch your nose and give a good blow - that's called the "Valsalva maneuver", and it really is the most effective. Pretty much every diver I know clears that way. Even I, with my big fat tubes that clear so easily, can't clear just by wiggling my jaw or swallowing. My husband was afraid to blow, and it took him quite a while to figure out that he really won't hurt himself by doing a good solid Valsalva.

2. Start clearing BEFORE you hit the water. Start clearing on the boat! Once you hit the water, perform a few Valsalvas before you even begin to descend. Then just keep on doing it.

3. Don't flip upside down to fin yourself down when starting your descent. If you have to do this, you are probably underweighted. Start your descent upright, then as you drop, gently level out so that you are descending in a horizontal position. NOT vertical upside-down.

4. Take your time, and don't rush! When I dive with my husband, I know that he will take twice as long as I would to descend, so I slow my own descent down and just accept it. Make sure you are diving with a buddy who understands that you have to take a little more time than others. Don't ever feel pressured to descend more quickly than you are comfortable. Hubby did that once, and ended up with a barotrauma that kept him out of the water for 3 months.
 
The one link to rule them all:

Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page

The vid down about half way on the page "The Diver's Ear-Under Pressure" Helped me a ton when I started dive back in September back when I really could only equalize my left ear. My Right took its sweat time. I would advise practicing on land to equalize your ears it takes a bit of getting used to but once they become adjusted to equalizing it should get easier. If not you might want to hit up and ENT if you cannot equalize on land. I worked over christmas break from uni (2 weeks ish) on equalizing 10-20 times a day now I can sink like a stone and my ears equalize fine. I hope this helps.
 
Hi all.

Some great advice there, i will as suggested start practicing daily for the next week or so on the lead up to my next dive. I think you may all be right, maybe i'm being a tart and not blowing hard enough because i'm worried about hurting myself, so i'll try blowing harder.

I have to descend feet down head up because when i'm horizontal it's even harder.

I don't have any trouble on planes, i do however sometimes have to equalise the pressure, i have no real bother to speak of.

I've never tried equalising in one continuous motion rather than every few feet, i can give it a go

Let me go away and try these tips and i'll report back how i get on.

Off to watch the recommended video now.

Thanks for all the suggestions!!
 
All good advice so far. But I add the following, based on advice from a an ENT doctor, "keep water out of your ears, especially cold, lake or quarry water". So I started using vented Doc's Pro Plugs. All the difference in the world. Catching on with divers worldwide. For about $10 you have nothing to lose by trying them out. Solved my issues, still a slow descent but no big deal.
Good luck, Joe P
 
Good idea to see an ENT. I never knew that my nasal septum was deviated and this was the cause of my eustachian tube blockage. I couldn't equalise at 2 metres in the pool! I thought that I would never be able to dive. After a month of some medication (nasal spray, decongestant tabs, anti-histamine tabs), I have just finished my open water course. I equalised fine, at will. All the best mate.
PS. The ENT told me that if the meds didn't work, an operation to straighten the septum would. So....explore all your options.
 
...//...., everything bunged up for weeks.

My last couple of dives, i've had problems on the way up, ...//....

Not very common to have problems on the way up. Might try something like Mucinex, to thin things out. [I'm not a doc, check first]

And a bit of good news to go along with all the good advice: It gets better and easier with practice. My experience is pretty close to GramsciBeat's.

I had one "slow" ear. Not psychological, if I kept descending it would hurt and bother me a bit for a few days afterward. Now, both fine.

Ala Leejnd, Clear early and often, don't wait until you feel the need.
 
Mucinex is an expectorant. It is for chest congestion. A nasal decongestant like that found in many otc allergy and sinus medicines might help. Also, check out a sinus rinse. Neil Med has a great system for like $10. Works wonders! Then again, it may be an issue directly related to small eustacean tubes. (Most likely the case given your description.) There is an operation available where they place tubes in your ears. Not sure how that would work for a diver. I would also caution you from blowing to hard when using the valsalva method. It is possible to put too much pressure on the inner part of the ear drum and cause it to rupture. I'm not a doctor, so seeing an ENT is definitely a great idea. I offer my input as someone who has studied a lot on the subject in dealing with my own troublesome sinus and ear problems. (Plus I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night. Haha)
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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