fnfalman
Contributor
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.
Did you have these issues while doing pool drills?
If you didn't suffer these issues while doing the pool drills then ask yourself what is it that you did differently while in the ocean.
Also, like others said, equalize while you're on the surface before even submerge, then descend slowly in a vertical position with your head tilted slightly backward so that your neck (and your Eustasian tube) is pointed upward and straight. Most days I can just blow and go, but some days I have to do this.
The key is to be able to descend slowly, and the only way to do that is not to be overweighted with lead. Otherwise, you hit the deflator button and you drop towards the bottom like a rock. Not enough time to do any proper equalization.
Another thing is to make sure that your nose is free of "gunk" for lack of better words. Rinse your face while you're on the surface, make sure that the nose is well soaked and blow all the snorts out.
I've suffered blocks during dives because there were snort build-ups during the dive.