Ear equalization on the loop

[DiveLikeAMuppet]

Are there any alternative equalization techniques that work well for you on a CCR?

I'm using Valsalva on CCR and it's not great on very busy descents - I recently slightly injured my ear. On OC, I combined Valsalva and voluntary tubal opening (push jaw forward/side-to-side/down) but I it find difficult to maintain a lip seal on the loop.

Also, do you follow a specific descent speed or profile? I find descents very busy - typically I have to hold the shotline with my left hand, monitor my PPO2, and use my right hand for adding gas to the drysuit, equalizing, and any other task, and also still focus on the work of breathing, as I might still be swimming against the current before slack window.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Are there any alternative equalization techniques that work well for you on a CCR?

I'm using Valsalva on CCR and it's not great on very busy descents - I recently slightly injured my ear. On OC, I combined Valsalva and voluntary tubal opening (push jaw forward/side-to-side/down) but I it find difficult to maintain a lip seal on the loop.

Also, do you follow a specific descent speed or profile? I find descents very busy - typically I have to hold the shotline with my left hand, monitor my PPO2, and use my right hand for adding gas to the drysuit, equalizing, and any other task, and also still focus on the work of breathing, as I might still be swimming against the current before slack window.

When I started diving, we were mostly using pure oxygen CCRs, called ARO.
This was the most common and cheap scuba system here in Italy, widely employed in the fifties and sixties.
A specific equalisation method was invented for being used with this CC rebreather, named the Marcante-Odaglia method.
It is a variant of Frenzel, where the mouth and airways stay open (so you can breath while equalising).
As in Frenzel, you close the nostrils and exhert pressure by raising the soft palate so that it compresses the air inside the nasal cavity.
But in Frenzel the mouth is closed and you also raise the tongue, pushing up against the soft palate: this increases the pressure, which is useful for a free diver descending quickly.
With Marcante-Odaglia the pressure is smaller, as you do not use your tongue, just the soft palate.
So it is a very gentle method, very safe.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

A foot first, slow descent may help you.

 

[billgraham]

The only difference with the CCR is now your hands are a little busier trying to maintain loop volume, monitor PPO2 and do all the other stuff, drysuit, buoyancy, etc. Advice on equalizing is like Huey Long said about voting, do it "early and often".

 

[Wibble]

Try Valsalva (as in jaw movements) as you notice it, then grab the nose and a harder blow. If that doesn't work, stop the descent! Ascend a bit and give it your full attention to clear your ear(s) before continuing the descent.

No real difference between OC and CCR except maybe being more busy.

 

[mr_v]

Learn Frenzel maneuver - it is easier on your middle-ear than Valsalva.

Equalize continuously, i.e., your free hand should continuously perform the "loop of life" which means: equalize, loop volume, dry suit (or BCD).

 

[Tim Clark Diving]

I just move the muscles in my head to clear the eustachian tubes. My father used the same technique, so I somehow figured it out when I was a kid. Best I can describe it is clenching your ear muscles. When I do it, I can hear a difference in my ears and feel them equalize. Requires no breath holding, pinching the nose, or moving your jaw. Hopefully someone else knows what I am talking about and can explain it better. I've used it my whole life, so I don't know how I learned the technique. It might be something you just need to play around with until you figure out how to do it. Kinda like learning to whistle, although weirdly I have never actually figured out how to whistle so maybe not the best analogy!

 

[Big-swede]

I just move the muscles in my head to clear the eustachian tubes. My father used the same technique, so I somehow figured it out when I was a kid. Best I can describe it is clenching your ear muscles. When I do it, I can hear a difference in my ears and feel them equalize. Requires no breath holding, pinching the nose, or moving your jaw. Hopefully someone else knows what I am talking about and can explain it better. I've used it my whole life, so I don't know how I learned the technique. It might be something you just need to play around with until you figure out how to do it. Kinda like learning to whistle, although weirdly I have never actually figured out how to whistle so maybe not the best analogy!

I do exactly the same but i have no idea on how to explain it better.

Had a friend who did it when i was about 9 yo and freediving so i just set my mind on learning it to and one day it just worked.

 

[Angelo Farina]

Learn Frenzel maneuver - it is easier on your middle-ear than Valsalva.

Equalize continuously, i.e., your free hand should continuously perform the "loop of life" which means: equalize, loop volume, dry suit (or BCD).

Problem with Frenzel is that it requires to remove the mouthpiece, as a true Frenzel can only be performed with the mouth clused and pushing up with the tongue against the soft palate.
And disconnecting from the loop is much more complex than spitting a normal OC reg.
Exactly for this reason the Marcante-Odaglia method was developed.
It is a modified Frenzel which does not require to close the mouth, so it can be perforned keeping the mouthpiece in place and even breathing while equalizing.
It is just a bit more difficult to learn than pure Frenzel.
Frenzel is widely employed by free divers.
Most scuba divers who think to being using Frenzel are in reality using Marcante-Odaglia as they perform it with the mouth open, keeping the mouthpiece in it.

 

[JMBL]

When I started diving, we were mostly using pure oxygen CCRs, called ARO.
This was the most common and cheap scuba system here in Italy, widely employed in the fifties and sixties.
A specific equalisation method was invented for being used with this CC rebreather, named the Marcante-Odaglia method.
It is a variant of Frenzel, where the mouth and airways stay open (so you can breath while equalising).
As in Frenzel, you close the nostrils and exhert pressure by raising the soft palate so that it compresses the air inside the nasal cavity.
But in Frenzel the mouth is closed and you also raise the tongue, pushing up against the soft palate: this increases the pressure, which is useful for a free diver descending quickly.
With Marcante-Odaglia the pressure is smaller, as you do not use your tongue, just the soft palate.
So it is a very gentle method, very safe.

Thanks a ton Angelo ! Never heard of that technique. Glad to learn something new !