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BlueTuna

Registered
Messages
19
Reaction score
12
Location
Columbus, Ohio
# of dives
25 - 49
Hey everyone,

Recently I finally decided to take up scuba diving as it's something I've always wanted to do since I took a "discover Scuba" course in the Philippines several years ago.

I recently signed up for certification, followed by a trip to Bonaire happening at the end of this month (Nov 30th-Dec 6th) with my local outfitter, Columbus Scuba.

I've got lots of questions that I'm sure I'll be asking in the coming weeks but I wanted to start off with something that I'm a little concerned about after taking my 1st class yesterday.

1. Ear pain after trying to clear mask.

After our instructor taught us how to clear our mask, our class submerged and he started going around the circle, asking each student to demonstrate what he taught us.

I had a little water in my mask already, so I tried on my own (placing my fingers on the top of my mask, looked slightly upward and blew through my nose).When I did so, I must have blown to hard and I felt some slight discomfort and a weird sensation in my ear. I re-emerged to alleviate the discomfort and then submerged again. The instructor eventually came around and verified I could clear my mask (despite still have a little water in the nose area)
As I was swimming around it still felt slightly painful and it felt a little different. I also felt like I was getting more water in that ear. When I got home, and sat at my PC, it began to feel worse like I had an earache/infection.

I asked a friend and wondered if I had ruptured my ear drum. He said I would be likely bleeding if I had. I hadn't noticed any bleeding and the pain has gone away, but it sure hurt last night. If I didn't rupture, I am wondering why it was painful.

2. Fitness Level?
I'm not the fittest guy in the world, but I try to walk or go the gym a decent amount. I used to work out a lot, but I've been slacking lately. Still, I felt like I was in fit enough condition to do Scuba diving. The class we attended took place at an Olympic swimming pool (164 ft/50m long) and the instructor asked us to swim the length of the pool 6 times (984 ft!!). I made it about 4 times and I was pretty winded. I may have been able to another 2x but I was still trying to catch my breath and they moved on the next segment, which is to float or tread water for 10 min. We made it about 3 min in and I was struggling to try and float on my back while pedaling with feet/arms (something I've never been good at).

I'm feeling like I may not be quite as fit or proficient at swimming as I thought I was and may need to get a lot of cardio/swimming practice in before my big trip.

What are your thoughts?
 
1) See a doctor. You might be fine, but if you need treatment, best to get it right away.
2) I'm concerned that your class just moved on without you having completed the swim requirement. What other corners might they be cutting?

As far as whether you're fit to dive, mostly scuba diving is a lazy sport. Lots of people who aren't in shape still do it. But if you surface away from the boat in a strong current, you may find yourself wishing you'd worked out more. That said, swimming is as much about technique as it is about fitness. You might make a lot of progress with a few swim lessons. Good luck!
 
Hey everyone,

Recently I finally decided to take up scuba diving as it's something I've always wanted to do since I took a "discover Scuba" course in the Philippines several years ago.

I recently signed up for certification, followed by a trip to Bonaire happening at the end of this month (Nov 30th-Dec 6th) with my local outfitter, Columbus Scuba.

I've got lots of questions that I'm sure I'll be asking in the coming weeks but I wanted to start off with something that I'm a little concerned about after taking my 1st class yesterday.

1. Ear pain after trying to clear mask.

After our instructor taught us how to clear our mask, our class submerged and he started going around the circle, asking each student to demonstrate what he taught us.

I had a little water in my mask already, so I tried on my own (placing my fingers on the top of my mask, looked slightly upward and blew through my nose).When I did so, I must have blown to hard and I felt some slight discomfort and a weird sensation in my ear. I re-emerged to alleviate the discomfort and then submerged again. The instructor eventually came around and verified I could clear my mask (despite still have a little water in the nose area)
As I was swimming around it still felt slightly painful and it felt a little different. I also felt like I was getting more water in that ear. When I got home, and sat at my PC, it began to feel worse like I had an earache/infection.

I asked a friend and wondered if I had ruptured my ear drum. He said I would be likely bleeding if I had. I hadn't noticed any bleeding and the pain has gone away, but it sure hurt last night. If I didn't rupture, I am wondering why it was painful.

2. Fitness Level?
I'm not the fittest guy in the world, but I try to walk or go the gym a decent amount. I used to work out a lot, but I've been slacking lately. Still, I felt like I was in fit enough condition to do Scuba diving. The class we attended took place at an Olympic swimming pool (164 ft/50m long) and the instructor asked us to swim the length of the pool 6 times (984 ft!!). I made it about 4 times and I was pretty winded. I may have been able to another 2x but I was still trying to catch my breath and they moved on the next segment, which is to float or tread water for 10 min. We made it about 3 min in and I was struggling to try and float on my back while pedaling with feet/arms (something I've never been good at).

I'm feeling like I may not be quite as fit or proficient at swimming as I thought I was and may need to get a lot of cardio/swimming practice in before my big trip.

What are your thoughts?
Ear injuries are common for new divers. There's no need to aggressively blow through your nose to clear a mask. You are probably right about your self assessment and blew too hard causing your inner ears to expand too much. Just keep practicing. As for clearing your ears, you should begin right when you splash. If you feel pain it's already too late and you risk injury as you will likely be negative and descending. Clear early and often.

The swim test isn't especially practical during actual diving because you'll have your BC which of course will keep you on the surface reducing the energy needed to swim long distances. IMO, the test is also often rushed to complete the goal and results in fatigue before finishing the distance. There's no time limit, per se. You just need to set a better pace. The treading water test is also often not done correctly, especially in a calm pool. Lots of people will kick like crazy to stay on the surface when in reality most people can simply float on the surface using their lungs to generate positive buoyancy. At the end of the day I would not let those two tests get to you mentally; however, it would be wise to maintain a decent level of physical fitness for diving.
 
+1 on seeing a doc about your ear(s). You may need to equalize more often and descend more slowly. I know someone who begins equalizing on the boat to remind herself to just do it constantly once she hits the water.

In regards to fitness: it's good to do a fair amount of cardio, work on your legs (for getting out of the water and back on the boat as well as kicking against current); and just being in generally good shape. You see all shapes and sizes on a dive boat, but we are each responsible for our own safety and may be called upon to help someone else in need. So your physical fitness is important for your buddy as well as yourself.

Good luck!
 
1) See a doctor. You might be fine, but if you need treatment, best to get it right away.
2) I'm concerned that your class just moved on without you having completed the swim requirement. What other corners might they be cutting?

As far as whether you're fit to dive, mostly scuba diving is a lazy sport. Lots of people who aren't in shape still do it. But if you surface away from the boat in a strong current, you may find yourself wishing you'd worked out more. That said, swimming is as much about technique as it is about fitness. You might make a lot of progress with a few swim lessons. Good luck!

When they asked us to swim, everyone got a head start ( I had to remove my boots) and most seemed to swim faster than I could. I felt like I was the worst swimmer there, lol. I was catching my breath after the 4th lap and the female assistant instructor was trying to teach me how to swim on my back to make it easier. By the time I tried to do that, everyone was done with their swimming. I'll be honest, I was a bit embarrassed that I hadn't completed that "requirement" and I didn't say anything at first. I didn't want to get Disqualified so early in my career. However, I did tell the female instructor later and she said it was okay, that I mostly need to be able to float.

Thanks for the recommendations everyone, I will probably set up and apt with my doctor today and try to get in later this week as I'm due for a physical anyways. In the meantime, I'll also consider swim lessons.
 
If the pain/discomfort is gone I would not stress about it but do be aware and gentler with the maneuver next round.

As for fitness, even if relatively fit doing an exercise/sport we are not use too will stress new muscles and cause fatigue sooner than you might expect. But if you are not otherwise active it might just be a wakeup call to get out and get fit.
 
For me, it's not about "you must swim this distance or be a bad scuba diver". It's about enjoying my time, which is categorically better when I swim laps vigorously in addition to other exercise. That said, there have been times when I have been shore diving and felt completely spent, where it was more of a safety issue. So I highly recommend swimming for exercise.
 
Unless your nose was clogged, my guess is that the ear problem was equalization and the not mask clearing drill itself. It just manifested later, or that's when you noticed it. After all, that is just exhaling through your nose, which you do all the time without causing ear problems. You even sneeze.

Take extra care and work on equalization - early and often. There are lots of tips and tricks and what works well for one person isn't always the best for another, but you'll get there. That's what I'd focus on. I doubt your clearing technique had anything to do with it.

Don't worry about the swimming. It isn't a race. If you feel like you need a little swimming instruction, I'm sure your instructor can point you in the right direction. A little technique and, just as important, finding a pace that doesn't blow you out, will make all the difference.
 
If you have access to a pool, maybe try swimming on your back as the instructor suggested (once you've seen a doctor about your ears). Go slowly and see if you can do the required distance without exhausting yourself.

I struggled with the OW swim test; I was also the slowest one, and it wore me out. I swam with a freestyle stroke, which I guess I assumed was the way to go, but I know my form sucks and I had trouble getting enough air. I knew this was going to be a problem for the GUE Fundamentals swim test, which is 50% longer and it's timed. But when I talked to some people who had done it, several mentioned doing it in backstroke, so I decided to try that. I easily completed the distance well within the time requirements without getting any fitter. Now I'm trying to arrange some swim lessons to help with the submerged swim portion, since as I like to say, I'm really good at that whole NOT holding my breath thing.

Incidentally, I've also found I greatly prefer doing surface swims on my back rather than using a snorkel. When doing a surface swim in full gear, my posture is more like sitting in a recliner vs. lying flat, and since I have fins I don't need to use my arms, but it's still pretty similar.
 
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