Need Help For Ear Problems

[Scuba Do]

My son just got his C-card. We went diving last weekend. He had a bit of a problem with his ears the first dive, but eventually got down to about 57 feet with no on-going problems. On the second dive, he had more problems getting down, and finally had to quit after getting about 17 feet. His ears hurt for a few days after this. He tells me that he had lots of problems when he did his cert. dives. He starts equalizing well before going down. He has tried using methods other than pinching his nose, but that is the only one that works, but that one hurts a lot (I told him to do it gently, but even that hurts). Are there any techniques or do ear plugs or some other aid work? He loves to dive, so I would hate for us not to find an answer. Thoughts please.

 

[diveprof]

My son just got his C-card. We went diving last weekend. He had a bit of a problem with his ears the first dive, but eventually got down to about 57 feet with no on-going problems. On the second dive, he had more problems getting down, and finally had to quit after getting about 17 feet. His ears hurt for a few days after this. He tells me that he had lots of problems when he did his cert. dives. He starts equalizing well before going down. He has tried using methods other than pinching his nose, but that is the only one that works, but that one hurts a lot (I told him to do it gently, but even that hurts). Are there any techniques or do ear plugs or some other aid work? He loves to dive, so I would hate for us not to find an answer. Thoughts please.

First of all the caveat, I am not a doctor. Has your son been checked by a physician/ENT doc? If not, doing so is a good idea.

Ear plugs are not the way to go for many reasons. Ear problems are probably the most common problem with new divers. There are many tips to address these problems and alternative clearing methods to try. Here are a few tips:
1. Being relaxed is most important. Tense muscles, particularly if looking downward, makes clearing more difficult.
2. Not clearing early can also make clearing difficult if not impossible. Not clearing until you have descended several feet means you are already working against a pressure gradient. Clear once on the surface and continue to clear every few feet as you descend. I drop rather fast and clear on every breath.
3. Another technique to try. You can do this on land. Look upward. With your tongue on the roof of your mouth (if on reg - on the roof of your mouth blocking the air inlet; if on the surface - on the roof of your mouth and your mouth closed), look up and swallow. Feel your ears pop? If so, you have successfully cleared. This a kinder, gentler technique than the valsalva. Just do it early and frequently on descent.

 

[tkdgodess]

How quickly is he descending? If his physiology is ok he shouldn't have to pinch and blow really hard. Maybe have a "equalization dive", making it the sole purpose to equalize instead of trying to have a tour. Some times I find that new divers are so worried about keeping up etc.. that they run into these small problems. Have him equilize with his reg in his mouth and just before deflation/exhalation, and go slowly down and equalize often. You could also have him practice jaw thrusting/neck muscle squeezing around the house to get used to that feeling of hands-free adding air to airspaces.

 

[Scuba Do]

Thanks for the insights. We will try your suggestions. My saw a doctor after the last dive. No indication of permanent ear issues. He may well just be VERY tense.

 

[cflJason]

I strongly recommend going to Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page and watching "The Diver's Ear - Under Pressure." I also agree with Dive prof in that you may want to consult an ENT.

 

[emttim]

I can relate, I've had a lot of ear equalization issues lately and somewhere in the last twenty dives I suffered minor left ear barotrauma and my left ear drum was found to be bleeding from a few minor patches and the ear drum itself was stretched and not as flexible (all problems have since resolved).

I've found that after the barotrauma, there's a lot of different tricks you can do. The Valsalva maneuver, where you pinch your nose and blow out, sounds like it isn't working too well for him. He can also try tilting his head to the side so that the ear he wants to equalize is pointing upwards. For instance, if you want to equalize your left ear, tilt your head to the right...this will straighten out the eustachian tube which will help allow it to clear. You can also try the Frenzel maneuver which is done by placing the tip of your tongue on the hard roof of your mouth as forward as possible (preferably against the back of your upper front teeth) and making a thrusting motion upwards with your throat (this maneuver has been nicknamed the "throat piston") which should push air into your eustachian tubes.

Finally, yawning and working your jaw around in combination with the aforementioned techniques will help equalize the ears. I've also been told that it helps to equalize if you are in an upright position, however, I have no way of telling whether this helps or not but I mentioned it for the sake of trying to help.

 

[catra8104]

I highly recommend the video mentioned above.. I watched it before my first OW dive & it helped tremendously...

 

[Andy077]

I had a somewhat similar problem during my cert, mom says i had lots of ear infections as a kid, i think i may have narrow tubes or something, BUT, something really easy and stupid helped me out, first, and foremost, equalize early and all the way down, but the biggest technique for me, which changed me from fighting to get to the bottom of the pool, to scooting down to 90 feet, was my tongue placement, with reg in mouth, and nostrils pinched, all i had to do was fold my tongue back and up in my mouth, and it solved the whole problem, I practiced my equalizing GENTLY! out of the water with my mouth open, and tongue in that position. i found that that got me used to doing it with reg in mouth.

good luck!

 

[ScubaSteve]

I strongly recommend going to Doc's Diving Medicine Home Page and watching "The Diver's Ear - Under Pressure." I also agree with Dive prof in that you may want to consult an ENT.

I have to agree that as long as there is no physical underlying issue, these plugs are a great option. My girlfriend had many problem on EVERY dive with equalization. Some dives would take her 3-4 minutes to finally equalize and get to any sort of depth. Once there,there was never a problem. With this vented plugs, she is able to comfortably descend and equalize almost as fast as most people. With these plugs she has never had a problem with equalizing.

 

[cflJason]

ScubaSteve001,

What you are referring to is actually the Doc's pro plugs. THese are vented ear plug specifically made for scuba diving. Doc's Proplugs: The Doctor's Choice for Ear Protection