There was an old myth that water equalizing simply involved taking off the nose clip 'down deep'. I also developed a wet technique that involves flooding the mouth to reduce dead space. However, while doing either of those things may help, neither is the true 'water' equalizing techique.
In the true water equalizing technique, the inner ear itself (i.e. eustachian tube) is flooded with water, by doing repetitive shallow dives with flooded sinuses, and equalizing over and over with flooded sinuses. Slowly the water displaces the air in the ears. There is always a danger of infection and swelling.
If the tubes are completely filled with H2O, then equalizing is no longer necessary. More often, the tubes become partially filled, which makes equalizing less frequent (sometimes much less frequent -- in this case, sometimes the diver goes down to 60m before the first equalization).
This an ADVANCED technique, and several divers have nearly drowned while trying it (even Alejandro Ravelo nearly drowned, so don't take it lightly).
So this is for INFORMATIONAL purposes only, and do not attempt it!
If you have problems equalizing, I don't think this is the answer. It is probably impossible in cold water due to the swelling it would cause.
Eric Fattah
BC, Canada
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