Ear Fear

[ebbtide]

just curious as to if you have ever as a new diver experienced EAR FEAR ? i had a hard time getting over the ear fear of equlizing now i dont have mutch trouble and tend to equlize alot easear and more often even when not diving . it is the gentel blow that dosent seem to happen normally with me it has to be sometimes quite hard , ive tried taking sudafed to help open the eustachian tube but i used to get very paranoid while on the medication this is the only side affect i had and in low to 0 vis i decided to not to keep taking the sudafed

 

[TRUETEXAN]

I have never really had any "ear fear", but when I first started diving I could not equalize by pinching my nose and blowing, but fortunatly I had a very experienced dive master in the water with me who helped me find out another way to do it. All I have to do in order to equalize is simply push my bottom jaw forwards and backwards or wiggle it a little bit and it works great, I don't know why the other technique doesn't work for me but quite honestly my jaw thrust is way easier anyway in my opinion.

 

[Ari]

and you will see that you share a fear, which is identical to other diver's.

It has to do with getting in the water for the first times and having to deal with a lot of new stuff at once.

In time, you get used to it and it all goes away.

Ari

 

[pipedope]

The cure for Ear Fear is training and practice.

Anyone who has the smallest problem should be sent to;
http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/index.html
to read about middle ear barotrauma;
http://faculty.washington.edu/ekay/MEbaro.html

The streaming video is a must see even if you must go to someone elses computer to watch it.

There are demonstrations of several ways to equalize and pictures of what is going on inside the ear at the time.

Equalize before you start down and continuously until you reach depth. By staying ahead of the curve on ear pressure you avoid squeeze and keep the eustachian tubes open and working.

michael