disappointed

[M.D.]

Hey everyone,
yet another ear problem post. I had my first check dive yesterday at Cedar Point in Georgian Bay. Great day for diving. Sunny. Water was very warm, I wore a wet suit jacket, but I probably didn't need it. Vis was pretty decent. Although if anyone has been to the site, there's not very much to see, besides an old truck with a million zebra muscles on it. I saw a pretty big carp.
As my buddy and I were making the descent to the truck, which is down about 40 feet, I started to get incredible ear squeeze. I didn't really notice we were descending that fast, and didn't get in enough equalization. Went up a few feet and tried to equalize, nothing. In fact, I signaled to surface because it wasn't getting any better, and it felt like I blew out my right ear. When we surfaced I couldn't hear out of it, until all the water drained. Then my buddy noticed my nose was bleeding, which does happens to me somewhat frequently, actually I had a nose bleed in the morning. My instructor Tim told me I was trying too hard to equalize, which is probably accurate, because when my right ear wouldn't go I felt a little apprehension and tried too hard to equalize it.
I was contemplating calling the dive, but Tim suggested we just stick to shallow waters to get the bottom time in. As long as I was above 10 feet there was little issue with my ears. So we swam around the whole rest of the dive, a little too much I think. My buddy just kept swimming, although he was constantly checking on me and seeing if I was OK. I just felt rushed through the whole dive. I like to take things easy and slow. But we got in 55 minutes BT, and my air consumption was pretty decent for a new diver (i smoke too...) so there was some good things about the dive.
All in all, I'm not happy with my performance. I should've been paying attention, and equalized early and often. I may have damaged my ear so I'm going to my doctors to get it checked out. I hope nothing too bad happened, I really want to finish my check dives because I'm visiting my brother out west to go diving and I'd like to have a little more experiance. But at the very least, I know what not to do again. Just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading.

 

[m3830431]

I should've been paying attention, and equalized early and often. I may have damaged my ear so I'm going to my doctors to get it checked out. I hope nothing too bad happened, I really want to finish my check dives because I'm visiting my brother out west to go diving and I'd like to have a little more experiance. But at the very least, I know what not to do again. Just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading.

Hope it is not serious but it is one of the main points in diving.

 

[cummings66]

Equalize early, equalize often. Do it before you think you need to and you'll have an easier time with it. My personal opinion is that this topic is the hardest part of diving, and as the other post alluded to, it's very important.

Good luck on the doctor visit, I think you'll be fine. Just be proactive next time and I'll bet you do fine.

 

[spectrum]

Go easy on yourself. Taking you to 40 feet at the start of your first check dive was pretty agressive IMO. It can take a while to get the hang of equalizing at the right pace, let alone the rest of diving, espcially if this was the first time out of the pool.

Good move going to see the doctor. Make sure there's no major damage and get checked to be sure you can equalize OK. They may have some pointers. Also investigate methods beyond the Valsalva, it's not the answer for everyone.

You made the right move coming back up to try so you're on the right track. Give it time, don't be rushed and don't hurt yourself. Good to hear you got the 55 minutes of BT. In a lot of ways if you can dive in 10 feet you can dive anywhere, bouyancy swings are most dramatic in the shallows.

Is Tim/buddy and instructor one in the same?

Hang in there and have safe fun,
Pete

Hey everyone,
yet another ear problem post. I had my first check dive yesterday at Cedar Point in Georgian Bay. Great day for diving. Sunny. Water was very warm, I wore a wet suit jacket, but I probably didn't need it. Vis was pretty decent. Although if anyone has been to the site, there's not very much to see, besides an old truck with a million zebra muscles on it. I saw a pretty big carp.
As my buddy and I were making the descent to the truck, which is down about 40 feet, I started to get incredible ear squeeze. I didn't really notice we were descending that fast, and didn't get in enough equalization. Went up a few feet and tried to equalize, nothing. In fact, I signaled to surface because it wasn't getting any better, and it felt like I blew out my right ear. When we surfaced I couldn't hear out of it, until all the water drained. Then my buddy noticed my nose was bleeding, which does happens to me somewhat frequently, actually I had a nose bleed in the morning. My instructor Tim told me I was trying too hard to equalize, which is probably accurate, because when my right ear wouldn't go I felt a little apprehension and tried too hard to equalize it.
I was contemplating calling the dive, but Tim suggested we just stick to shallow waters to get the bottom time in. As long as I was above 10 feet there was little issue with my ears. So we swam around the whole rest of the dive, a little too much I think. My buddy just kept swimming, although he was constantly checking on me and seeing if I was OK. I just felt rushed through the whole dive. I like to take things easy and slow. But we got in 55 minutes BT, and my air consumption was pretty decent for a new diver (i smoke too...) so there was some good things about the dive.
All in all, I'm not happy with my performance. I should've been paying attention, and equalized early and often. I may have damaged my ear so I'm going to my doctors to get it checked out. I hope nothing too bad happened, I really want to finish my check dives because I'm visiting my brother out west to go diving and I'd like to have a little more experiance. But at the very least, I know what not to do again. Just needed to get that off my chest. Thanks for reading.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

I was contemplating calling the dive, but Tim suggested we just stick to shallow waters to get the bottom time in. As long as I was above 10 feet there was little issue with my ears.

That's really interesting. The greatest pressure differential is in the first 5 feet of water. I wonder why it did not bother you at 10 feet. :06:

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Thanks for posting about your incident. It's always good for the ones of us who have been diving a while to be reminded of the things that make our sport difficult to beginners.

I used to have a terrible time with my ears. Then I read (I believe it was here, but I'm not so sure) about a little exercise that you can do when you're out of water to make equalizing easier. The gist of it is to swallow, allowing yourself to feel the back part of your tongue lowering. At that point, you'll usually hear a slight crackling sound. That sound is your eustacian tube opening. By practicing opening the tube over and over during your normal activities, it becomes easier to open it in the water. I started doing it a few years ago, and my equalization problems have all but disappeared.

Please keep us posted on your progress.

Hope it helps. Good luck.
Grier

 

[M.D.]

Go easy on yourself. Taking you to 40 feet at the start of your first check dive was pretty agressive IMO. It can take a while to get the hang of equalizing at the right pace, let alone the rest of diving, espcially if this was the first time out of the pool.

Good move going to see the doctor. Make sure there's no major damage and get checked to be sure you can equalize OK. They may have some pointers. Also investigate methods beyond the Valsalva, it's not the answer for everyone.

You made the right move coming back up to try so you're on the right track. Give it time, don't be rushed and don't hurt yourself. Good to hear you got the 55 minutes of BT. In a lot of ways if you can dive in 10 feet you can dive anywhere, bouyancy swings are most dramatic in the shallows.

Is Tim/buddy and instructor one in the same?

Hang in there and have safe fun,
Pete

Sorry, I have a tendancy to ramble and forget information. My buddy was a helper for Tim named Tyler. Tim's my instructor. I also should mention we weren't to pass 30 feet, so we couldn't go right down to the truck at 40 feet. Thanks for the feedback Pete, and everyone else, it really helps.
Oh yeah, and CanadianDiver we were actually more around seven feet, but my ears did seem alright at that depth. Strange. Thanks again everyone.

 

[M.D.]

Hey all. Just wanted to let everyone know I just got checked out by my doctor. I popped a couple blood vessles, so I have bruised my ear drums a bit. I'll need about a week before I can get wet again. But I didn't blow out my ears! That's quite a relief. Although now I know first-hand why the phrase 'early and often' is such an important diving rule. As well I have learned to speak up (or signal) whenever I don't feel right about something. Ultimately, I am responsible for my own well-being and can't expect everyone to know what's going on. Here's hoping the next dive goes a little better. Cheers.

 

[Canadian_Diver]

Hey all. Just wanted to let everyone know I just got checked out by my doctor. I popped a couple blood vessles, so I have bruised my ear drums a bit. I'll need about a week before I can get wet again. But I didn't blow out my ears! That's quite a relief. Although now I know first-hand why the phrase 'early and often' is such an important diving rule. As well I have learned to speak up (or signal) whenever I don't feel right about something. Ultimately, I am responsible for my own well-being and can't expect everyone to know what's going on. Here's hoping the next dive goes a little better. Cheers.

Hey, glad to hear it was only minor!

I have the most respect for the folks who admit when they're having a problem, whether it's with equalizing, anxiety, or whatever ... we really encourage our divers to speak up if they're having a problem.

Good on ya for taking that outlook!

 

[markfm]

It can really make a huge difference to descend slowly, especially on repetitive dives. I'm an allergy person, and on dive 2 or 3 in particular I go really slow, sometimes have to ascend a foot or so, to equalize cleanly. Any discomfort = need to stop (maybe ascend), equalize.
Good luck!