I just got certified this past weekend in Palm Beach Florida. I had a lot of trouble with equalizing my ears during the dives. None of the dives were deeper than 20 feet. During the last dive, I tried some vented ear plugs, but they did not seem to help much. After the dives, I continued to have trouble with my ears feeling congested and clogged. Any suggestions on what I can do about my ears during dives? I am afraid that I won't be able to go very deep if I had this much trouble at only 20 feet.
Trouble with ears
- Thread starter srboyd14
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
Bubbletrubble
Contributor
Don't worry. It's generally more difficult to equalize in shallow water than at deeper depths.
FWIW, people often experience ear problems while learning how to dive. You're not alone.
Odds are, you probably sustained some middle ear barotrauma (barotitis media), which led to a feeling of stuffiness/congestion caused by a build-up of fluid behind the eardrum. Once it's there, the damage is done. You can try to take some medication, but it's probably best to wait until your ears recover before diving again. The last thing you want to do is push your ears and rupture an eardrum.
You need to find the ear equalization technique (there are several different ones; click on the link in my sig for Dr. Kay's website) that works best for you. Then descend slowly...and equalize early/often during your descent. Assuming that you have normal anatomy, you shouldn't be feeling any ear pain/congestion during or after a dive.
What did your OW instructor suggest to do regarding your ear issues?
FWIW, people often experience ear problems while learning how to dive. You're not alone.
Odds are, you probably sustained some middle ear barotrauma (barotitis media), which led to a feeling of stuffiness/congestion caused by a build-up of fluid behind the eardrum. Once it's there, the damage is done. You can try to take some medication, but it's probably best to wait until your ears recover before diving again. The last thing you want to do is push your ears and rupture an eardrum.
You need to find the ear equalization technique (there are several different ones; click on the link in my sig for Dr. Kay's website) that works best for you. Then descend slowly...and equalize early/often during your descent. Assuming that you have normal anatomy, you shouldn't be feeling any ear pain/congestion during or after a dive.
What did your OW instructor suggest to do regarding your ear issues?
I had a lot of problems when I started out, too. First, make sure that your sinuses are clear. Take allergy medication regularly (and take the 24-hour kind before a dive, because you don't want it wearing off while you're underwater) if you have allergies.
Equalize early and often. I even do it while I'm still on the surface, just before descending (it might be overkill, but it helps me). If the pinch-your-nose-and-blow method doesn't work, try pinching and swallowing, or wiggling your jaw, or pushing your tongue up to the roof of your mouth while pinching and blowing. It takes practice to figure out what works for you.
Also, equalize before you feel pressure on your ears. Heck, equalize when you think you don't need it. I'm a new diver and I'm not sure if it's possible to do it too often (is it?) but I've found that I have to do it more frequently than other people to avoid getting squeezes. Just don't really push the air; do it gently.
Equalize early and often. I even do it while I'm still on the surface, just before descending (it might be overkill, but it helps me). If the pinch-your-nose-and-blow method doesn't work, try pinching and swallowing, or wiggling your jaw, or pushing your tongue up to the roof of your mouth while pinching and blowing. It takes practice to figure out what works for you.
Also, equalize before you feel pressure on your ears. Heck, equalize when you think you don't need it. I'm a new diver and I'm not sure if it's possible to do it too often (is it?) but I've found that I have to do it more frequently than other people to avoid getting squeezes. Just don't really push the air; do it gently.
My instructor suggested equalizing early and often and taking as much time as I needed to descend. He also told me that the first 30 feet were the most troublesome for equalizing. Finally, he suggested that I have my ears checked by a doctor if I continued to have problems.
Thank you for the link. I will be checking it out.
Thank you for the link. I will be checking it out.
Thank you, kerofish. I will try some of those methods. I was using the pinch-your-nose-and-blow method, but it wasn't working very well. Also, I was not blowing gently, I was blowing as hard as I could. Maybe that caused some of the problem...
Vented ear plugs won't help, they are on the wrong side of pressure difference. You can not stick something in your ear to fix air balance on the otherside of your ear drum.
kdsmithjr
Contributor
All of the suggestions here are good. i'm a new diver, an american living in the southern philippines and i had the same issues, though not as long term. Basic knowledge of human anatomy will teach you what has to happen to 'equalize', why having a regulator makes it easier, what the "issues" can be and why vented earplugs are a bad, bad idea.
One point i think has been made, but maybe needs some amplification or are least repetition. equalization must occur early and often in the first part of the dive. As soon as you feel the slightest pressure, stop and equalize. going deeper and hoping it will resolve itself never happens and it may cause damage.
JaneMitchell
Registered
Always equalise ... early, often and before you need to and always take your time descending. In my experience the ear is like a muscle and needs to be trained and the more you dive the better your ears maybe (obviously ruling out any health issues beforehand). I had a friend who was always the last one to descend when he first started diving...which is fine by the way. He was a fanatical diver and now he's usually the first one to the bottom. Patience is always the key and never feel pressured to descend faster than your ears can handle.
clay357
Registered
My wife had the same issues. She now uses the IST Pro-ear mask. It works well for her. She has no issues with her ears and it takes her no longer than others to reach depth.
Similar threads
