BTV (hands free) dry tips and techniques please

[laminar]

Hmmm... I read the BTV document and it seems very confusing. Has anyone had the drills work for them? If so share what worked here.

I learned BTV because did a lot of flying on airplanes when I was a kid and found I could just click my ears.

I don't move any part of my mouth, throat, jaw or anything to open the Eustachian tubes. I have managed to isolate the one set of muscles that do it.

I don't think it is related to swallowing or movement of the jaw at all in terms of opening the tubes voluntarily. Thrusting the jaw forward and down helps in terms of making the air flow less restricted at the opening of the tubes in the back of the throat (I think).

To me, the essential development of the BTV comes from the beginning of a yawn. A yawn combines the jaw lowering/forward thrust and a sense of building pressure in the ears and the "crackling"... Try yawning on purpose a lot and see if you can notice those sensations.

Even if you don't have a crackling sound - perhaps that doesn't happen for everyone - you still should feel a kind of roaring in your ears as you open and hold the tubes open. Holding them open for several seconds, working your way up as long as possible is essential for pure BTV equalizing and of course helpful for any mouthfill or frenzel combos.

A simple way to work on your BTV is to reverse equalize your E-tubes. Pinch your nose, and suck air out of your E-tubes by filling your mouth or using your diaphragm (ask me for a more detailed explanation if you don't follow). My tubes crackle as they depressurize.

Then to bring your E-tubes back to full pressure, start to yawn. Try varying degrees of yawning to get there. Eventually, you want to not yawn at all. Just move the muscles that let air back into the e-tubes.

I have to go now, but I can write about how to practice in the water once you isolate the BTV muscles.

Pete

[ILDiver]

Laminar, thanks for the Pressure/De-Pressure exercise. I did it a little bit and I can get both to got each direction with my nose pinched and using frenzel. I figure I'll do that some and "work" the e-tubes and try to get to the hands free. I have not read the document yet either. I downloaded it at work and did again just now.

I have a lot of dry training to do, stuck here in the middle of Illinois with no other freedivers

Maybe I'll work on the US static record LOL. Keep the good info rolling guys.

[azapa]

Chris, you think you have it bad. I live in a COUNTRY with no freedives. If it were not for a couple of people in each country I could rightly say a CONTINENT with no freedivers...

At the pool tonight I meekly suggested we should try max dyn apneas BEFORE swimming 2K and everybody looked at me like I was from space. So, back to 50M dyns at the end of the sessions

Back to BTV. Thanks Pete. A couple of points:

- you mention that you can do BTV. Do you always EQ that way or do you resort to pressurization methods sometimes? When?

- you mention that you see nothing moving in the mirror? Nothing at all? Please check

- when you refer to reverse EQ are you talking about holding your nose and reverse packing? I don't quite get it, sorry.

- I can always get a crackle in the ears swallowing (dry land, eg. now) is this 100% normal? good?

On the quest!

[ILDiver]

Originally Posted by azapa

- when you refer to reverse EQ are you talking about holding your nose and reverse packing? I don't quite get it, sorry.

If I understood correctly, equalize your ears (inflate them). Then "suck" or draw the air back out. I can't seem to get air in even though I'm hearing the crackling.

I can do this pinching my nose to equalize and thenstill with nose pinched, I put my tounge on the roof of my mouth and kind of pull the air back out of my ears.

I hoping it works like a stretching exercise I better read that word document...

[laminar]

Originally Posted by azapa

Back to BTV. Thanks Pete. A couple of points:

- you mention that you can do BTV. Do you always EQ that way or do you resort to pressurization methods sometimes? When?

I use it a lot during FRC diving recreationally, especially no fins. But I have been lazy with it of late. The deepest I've done it is to 40m without using Frenzel (full inhale with packing years ago). Have not tried FRC depth limit with BTV.

My main eq technique is: mouth fill at surface (keeping tubes open and exerting constant pressure with tongue/jaw/cheek compression), then mouthfill at 15-18m (same thing) for the rest of the way down. But that requires a lot of concentration, so when I'm playing around, I'll use plain frenzel or BTV with FRC. The range of BTV without thinking too much about it is about 10 metres. Keeping ears open at the surface is especially important since that's where the biggest change in pressure happens and if your e-tubes narrow too early, it's hard to keep them open deeper down.

- you mention that you see nothing moving in the mirror? Nothing at all? Please check

I stand corrected. I see a slight twitch of my uvula (dangly thing at the back of the throat) and the back of the tongue. But when I really isolate the opening of the E-tubes and resist the yawning reflex, it is a small tremble,not a muscle contraction of the uvula, mainly. Very interesting.

- when you refer to reverse EQ are you talking about holding your nose and reverse packing? I don't quite get it, sorry.

Yes. But do not pressurize/inflate the ears first (ILDiver).

Step 1: Make sure there's little air in your mouth. Pinch nose, close throat. Exhale/push out any extra air that's in your nose.

Step 2: Now, open your mouth and jaw as wide as possible while still sealing your upper airway with your throat and your lips. You should feel a negative pressure building in your e-tubes and hopefully a crackling sound, too. If that doesn't work, pack some of the air from your mouth/sinuses down into your lungs (only 1-2 packs). After a pack (or the opening of your mouth = mouthfill) you will have air in your mouth and e-tubes at a lower pressure (eardrums bending inward).

Step 3: Now let the air back into the e-tubes by starting to yawn/or wilfully crackling/or roaring sound in your ears.

- I can always get a crackle in the ears swallowing (dry land, eg. now) is this 100% normal? good?

On the quest!

Yes!

[naiad]

Originally Posted by azapa

wow Lucia, please tell us how you managed. did you set about to learn or were you just "gurning" as I seem to do in the hope that something cool happens...

I taught myself by the following stages:

- Try to yawn (easier if tired or bored!) to open the e-tubes. There should be a crackle as they open and then a roaring sound of the breath.

- When that becomes easy and both can be opened, try the same but holding your breath. If necessary still open your mouth wide. To know if you are actually equalizing, hold your nose and swallow, which creates negative pressure in the ears, then let go of your nose and equalize.

- When that becomes easy, try the same but with minimal opening of the mouth. The adams apple should move down.

- Now try both standing/sitting and lying down. It may be much easier in some positions than others.

- When it works well dry, try in water, about 1m depth in an upright position.

- Increase the depth if it is working.

- Try in an inverted position.

It can be very difficult to get from one stage to the next. I can do BTV reliably dry if I have been practising, but I can only occasionally do it in water, and have never managed in an inverted position. The progress I have made is promising though, so maybe it will be possible to learn. For now I use Frenzel if I need to equalize.

[azapa]

Originally Posted by naiad

I taught myself by the following stages:

- Try to yawn (easier if tired or bored!) to open the e-tubes. There should be a crackle as they open and then a roaring sound of the breath.

Thanks Lucia,

Does this happen to all who do Dry BTV? I assume here you are basically hearing your own breathing from INSIDE your ear, hence roaring, as you connect the inner ear to your mouth space.

On swallowing I can 100% of the time get the crackle, but never the roar (starting to sound weird I think a start would be to crackle, and try to hold something until the roar occurs and can be maintained.

Can you tell there are storms in the ocean here and that I have a cold. Nothing better to do hence my persistence to learn BTV?

[Fondueset]

The best clue I can give is to work with the sensation at the start of a yawn. I practiced this when I was a kid - never using force - just always that feeling and sound when you hear the breath from the inside. I taught myself to do each ear independently (long winters). I don't normally need to use my hands to equalize - at least not down to 60 feet or so. Anyway, learn to isolate the sensation when you feel the ears open at the start of a yawn - then work with it.

[m2b]

Okay, here is a new/old one for you guys. Out diving Tuesday afternoon, everything seemed fine. Wednesday I noticed something I have noticed a few times in the past. Without attempting any kind of equalizing, I'm automatically equalizing. I can be standing in my yard and I'll hear myself breathing and it feels like I have equalized my ear. Normally in the past it has seems like it typically has been one ear not both ears that are equalized when this condition appears. I can be sitting in front of the computer, driving my car, doing yard work, anything...and my ears will equalize themselves.

The situation lasts for a day max, in the case of Wednesday it lasted about half a day. I didn't notice it any Tuesday evening but I did notice it into early Wednesday afternoon.

I'm not sure what causes the situation. It has seemed generally like some point during the dive session like it has felt that I have gotten water in my ears. Then afterwards I notice the same sensation, later in the evening. The next day is when I always end up noticing the auto equalizing effect.

If I intentionally equalize both ears and then swallow, quite often everything will return to normal for a few minutes before all of a sudden, out of nowhere I'm hearing myself breathing again.

Now if I could do this on demand this would be nice, well maybe at least it would.

Ryan

[azapa]

Thanks Fondue, good points. I am sure that by putting together just the correct sequence of tips in this thread, with maybe a video or two (scary to the non follower) that we could have a simple learning technique on our hands.

I am now working on the swallow, that gives me 100% ear crackles both sides, trying to break down the movement, it certainly seems the first part is the key. Also, I find that in my desire to learn, all muscle movements are way over forced. I'll bet that those of you who can do it use almost no effort to crackle?

Ryan. If I am not wrong, you mention what is sometimes treated as a medical condition in which people are driven mad by their own breathing sound, probably due to stuck open Eustachian tubes. I'm sure its not that in your case. Work on isolating, and give feedback here.

[Fondueset]

Correct - almost no effort - normally I easily equalize without putting air into my mask - to equalize the mask takes more effort. Pete probably gave the best description - work with the start of a yawn - then try yawning with your mouth closed. - etc. etc.

[OceanObsessed]

Great thread. I have been working on this too but with limited success.

So from what I gather by reading this is to open your eustacian tubes so that you hear "regulator breathing" through the tubes. I can do this... its kinda loud. I feel my tubes open more and the breathing sound gets louder when I press my chin against my chest. Then just hold your tubes in this position and your ears should kinda auto equalize (maybe with the help of a forward jaw thrust at times) as you descend?

Perhaps this is what I have been missing. That is positioning my tubes open on the surface before descending.

[azapa]

sounds like you have it! how did you get to that point. as well as opening at the surface, what connor and fondue mention is to "blow" a little into your mask to create a pressure, the etubes being open, will allow this pressure into the inner ear.

let us know if it works in the water..

[OceanObsessed]

Originally Posted by azapa

sounds like you have it! how did you get to that point.

There is a document floating around somewhere that I had printed out a while back. I have it at my office. It has some excecises that build awareness of these muscles. I think it may have been written by someone here on deeperblue if I am not mistaken. The document makes reference to the "regulator breathing". I've played with BTV before on a line descending very slowly. It took me about 30-40 seconds to get to 10m. I was mainly clicking my ears and doing the forward jaw thrust. I can also sometimes do it while doing dynamics in the pool when there is a very gradual change in depth. There are times when I can't do it at all though and quite frequently I can equalize my left ear but not my right. I am nowhere near the point where I could use it while recreational diving because I have to descend too slowly and concentrate to hard on what I am doing.

This thread is very helpful and you have asked all the right questions Simon. Its nice to hear different people describe it in different ways. After reading this it seems that one of the mistakes that I am making is beginning to open my tubes at depth when I feel the need instead of starting on the surface. Also, I have not tried using the backpressure on my mask as you reminded me.

Looking forward to trying it out in the water. Lets hear back on the progress of everyone else learning the technuique too

[laminar]

It's funnny but when I swallow, I get only an occasional crackle which is fundamentally different from a willful opening of the Eustachian tubes. They don't seem to be the same muscles at all (for me).

Just wondering if the swallowing exercise is really working for people to isolate the e-tube opening muscles?

Grudge match: yawning vs. swallowing?