Clearing the ears "no hands"

[Anthony Appleyard]

How many people out of 10 can routinely clear their ears without pinching the nose (by hand or by a noseclip)? I once made a CGI image of a British 1960's frogman with a rebreather with a fullface mask with a big circular window, and someone ticked me off for omitting his noseclip.

I can clear my ears routinely "no hands" by wrinkling my nose using two small muscles called "nasalis" or "compressor naris".

Nasalis muscle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[billt4sf]

You are far more talented than I.

 

[BoltSnap]

I can "equalize" my ears by wiggling my jaws but I can never "clear" my ears and I don't know how I can clear them and I am certain that I do NOT want to "clear" my ears or clear anything in my body.

 

[Anthony Appleyard]

OK, sorry, I meant "equalize". The word "clear" for equalizing the ears is often used here in England.

I read that the ears can also be equalized "no hands" by getting voluntary control over the "tensor veli palatini" muscle.

Tensor veli palatini muscle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Rhone Man]

I can (unless I am particularly stuffy).

 

[Anthony Appleyard]

As in Rhone Man's avatar hereinabove, once I swam about for a period for a period underwater in a flooded quarry with an old-type 2-hose aqualung and no mask, closing my nostrils with the nasalis muscles. Before that, I had to do that in a swimming pool as a part of my diving test.

Once in a BSAC diving test in Swanage in Dorset (UK) later, I had to take my kit off underwater (in sea) and put it back on; during this my snorkel moved and got my mask's strap twisted and I looked at it and untwisted it :: the instructor was surprised at how well I could see underwater without a mask :: I am a few dioptres shortsighted (I used scleral contact lenses then for diving), and that offset part of the severe long-sightedness caused by water directly against the cornea.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

It's easy.
As soon as you feel any slight pressure just thrust your lower jaw forward and yawn with your mouth closed. It will open the eustacian (sp) tubes just like when you ascend or descend from altitude in a car.

 

[Anthony Appleyard]

Eustachian. Or in an airliner.

 

[Fossil_Diver]

Yawning with my mouth closed works for me too.

 

[TMHeimer]

OK, sorry, I meant "equalize". The word "clear" for equalizing the ears is often used here in England.

I read that the ears can also be equalized "no hands" by getting voluntary control over the "tensor veli palatini" muscle.

Tensor veli palatini muscle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I guess that's what I do. At any rate, I do it internally with no hands, jaw movement, swallowing, etc. Though if I'm descending very fast to a deep depth I do occasionally have to swallow.