Ear Equalizing and time to depth.

[pipedope]

Glad to help.

Diving is a matter of learning how and why things are done and then training the body and mind to carry out the needed tasks easily.

Remember that the cycle of learning, training and practice should continue on throughout your diving career. There is always something new to learn or a skill to perfect.

Enjoy!

 

[cmcarver]

There is nothing wrong with equalizing every breath if you need to. On decent I usually keep one hand on my inflator and one on my nose. I will equalize every breath or two as needed but it is nothing to get to 80' within 1 to 2 minutes for me using this method. Also I second the start equalizing before you get to the dive site. I start the day before and increase frequency, as I get closer to the site.

 

[riverserf]

I've been told to try different things by different dive masters...one suggested I get a special mask with some kind of ear coverings that's supposed to help...the next one told me 'no, those don't work' (although when I questioned her more she said she'd never actually tried one herself). I finally decided to go see a doctor and see if anything was unusual about my ear, but everything looked ok to the physician.


The video link (http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/) provided above was really reassuring and helpful. I'm going to try to use the techniques Dr. Kay suggests. Thanks for that link Pipedope.

And I'll do as "toodive4" suggests and start equalizing long before I get to the water.

Since I don't have a lot of experience diving, I'm glad to hear it'll get better the more I dive.

riverserf