My trip to the SETT!

[naiad]

Thanks everyone!

I will definitely be doing more deep diving.

Originally Posted by Apnea_Addict

what problem did occur when you tried to equalize ? On both ears at the same time ?

I mostly used Valsalva, but it only works if I use a lot of force, sometimes as much as possible, and even then it doesn't always work. Up to 15m it was working very well the last few times, though only in a head up position. From 15-20m it was very difficult, as the volume of air in my lungs was much less, but I could just about manage it by pulling in my diaphragm very hard. After 20m it was impossible.

Sometimes I just couldn't equalise at all, so I had to stop at about 4m and come up.

I can do BTV, but it is unreliable. I need to work on it a lot more, but I think it will be much more useful for me in the long term than Valsalva.

[DeepThought]

Originally Posted by naiad

I mostly used Valsalva, but it only works if I use a lot of force, sometimes as much as possible

Don't use force, you might rapture an ear drum, or even worse - your oval window. Most of the time equalization problems are technique related.

Originally Posted by naiad

From 15-20m it was very difficult, as the volume of air in my lungs was much less, but I could just about manage it by pulling in my diaphragm very hard. After 20m it was impossible.

Sounds to me like you should start incooporating residual volume stretchs into your stretching routine.

[Almostafish]

Hey Lucia!

B.

[Apnea_Addict]

Originally Posted by naiad

Thanks everyone!

I will definitely be doing more deep diving.

I mostly used Valsalva, but it only works if I use a lot of force, sometimes as much as possible, and even then it doesn't always work. Up to 15m it was working very well the last few times, though only in a head up position. From 15-20m it was very difficult, as the volume of air in my lungs was much less, but I could just about manage it by pulling in my diaphragm very hard. After 20m it was impossible.

Sometimes I just couldn't equalise at all, so I had to stop at about 4m and come up.

I can do BTV, but it is unreliable. I need to work on it a lot more, but I think it will be much more useful for me in the long term than Valsalva.

BTV - is where you keep the tubes open - I can do that with my left ear but then I still need to do something with the right one.

I am still working to get the Frenzel right and underwater in a head down position - not looking down sometimes helps sometimes not.

I heard that you can train your eustachian tubes a little - so if you equalize a lot it gets better with the time. And you need to keep well hydrated.

I hope it works better for you the next time you go deep diving - are you going to the "saltfreesplash" ?

best wishes
Holger

[naiad]

Originally Posted by DeepThought

Don't use force, you might rapture an ear drum, or even worse - your oval window. Most of the time equalization problems are technique related.

I am very careful not to put too much strain on my ears. Even if I use a lot of force, it is not transmitted to my ears because only a small amount of air gets through. I know it's not a good situation, and I will work on it.

Originally Posted by DeepThought

Sounds to me like you should start incooporating residual volume stretchs into your stretching routine.

I can't do anything which creates negative pressure in my lungs, because my breathing sounds squeaky afterwards. It doesn't hurt, but I don't want to damage anything.

I hope this will get better when I move out of London. I am very sensitive to air pollution, and it is the main cause of the problem. I could give it a try in the pool because it is in a less polluted area.

[DeepThought]

Originally Posted by naiad

Even if I use a lot of force, it is not transmitted to my ears because only a small amount of air gets through. I know it's not a good situation, and I will work on it.

Only a small amount of air gets through because your eustachian tubes are already shut either due to negative pressure already acculmilated because congestion, bad head position or a technique that doesn't work for you. If your tubes happen to "release" suddently you might blow your eardrum out, or blow your oval window in - which is even worse, you will probably require surgury and have a fair chance of suffering some permanent hearing loss. And there might be other risks involved.

I suggest you try working on technique first.

[naiad]

I will work on technique soon. I have discovered that Valsalva doesn't work for me, so I will try to find another method.

Because I have had such bad problems with congestion for all my life, I have got used to being in pain, so I am probably not very careful with pain in my face. When my nose/sinuses/ears start hurting, I just stop noticing it, because if I always paid attention to it, then it would be unbearable.

It is much better than it used to be. I definitely get less middle ear infections since I started diving. I used to get about 2 or 3 per year, but I have only had one in the 3 years that I have been diving. I think this is because it gets easier to open the tubes, so there is less risk of their getting blocked and infected.

It has also got much better since I stopped taking medication for it. I now refuse all treatment, conventional or alternative. The only thing I do is a saline rinse for the nose and sinuses (jala neti). I had an operation a few years ago, and it went wrong. Since then I am scared to try any treatment.

[Apnea_Addict]

Hi Lucia,

I'll just have to start working on my technique as well.

At moment in Dahab I get really frustrated since my ears are doing what they are always doing and just don't seem to respect the fact that I am in Egypt right now

Another thing is that apart from this forum here there is very little real help available in the freediving world since most people who are staying in the sport have just little problems with equalization or figured it out for themselves.

best wishes
Holger

[naiad]

Hi Holger,

I hope that you manage to sort out the equalisation trouble. It is really frustrating. I agree that it is hard to find advice on equalisation, compared to other topics. The first question everyone asks is 'How can I hold my breath longer', so there is lots of info on static and dynamic training and tables. It's only when people have been in the sport for a while that they start asking about how to equalise better.

For the last few weeks I have been feeling a lot better from the chest trouble that I had. I have been making a big effort to eat healthy food and take supplements, and I also go swimming when I can. The gym is just too much for me at the moment, and too boring. I have also decided not to put any strain on my lungs for a while. This means no exhale diving or negative statics, no heavy packing, and no contractions. I managed to do a reasonably hard CO2 table without contractions, so I think it won't affect my training too much. It was actually easier, because I was concentrating so hard on stopping the contractions that it took my mind off holding my breath!

[Apnea_Addict]

Hi Lucia,

sometimes if you ask other freedivers how the equalize more often than not you get the answer "I just do it". That is really great because that doesn't get you anywhere.

I'll be doing more research on this in the next couple of weeks since I volounteered to do a presentation on it for a freediving seminar.

Then hopefully I'll finally manage the frenzel.

best wishes to you
Holger

[Apnea_Addict]

Hi Lucia,

I am about to open another thread for "Equalizing Legastheniks" ;-)

There are quite a few of them around, maybe also here.

see ya
Holger

[samdive]

Hi Lucia

have you tried the Frenzel technique? using the back of your throat rather than pushing all the way from the lungs? I am sure there are a few threads on it here somewhere

That is what I do and I really can say I have never had problems

Sam

[Apnea_Addict]

Hi Sam,

I am currently working on getting the Frenzel right - there is a new thread on that "equalizing head down" here on deeperblue.

I found out that I seem to mix Valsalva and Frenzel, but mostly pushing with the diaphram when I do did like I did before.

The other thing is, that I seem to tense up - expecting problems already. So I really have to try it slowly with pull-downs.

It works best when I am not thinking about it - but then I am now trying to implement new stuff.

Holger

[naiad]

I am working on the Frenzel. I can sometimes do it dry, but not in the pool. With all methods it doesn't always work on the first attempt, so it still takes a lot of time and effort. The only one I can ever do in a head-down position is BTV, and it is not reliable enough to be useful. Maybe if I work on it in pool training it will improve.