• Welcome to the DeeperBlue.com Forums, the largest online community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing. To gain full access to the DeeperBlue.com Forums you must register for a free account. As a registered member you will be able to:

    • Join over 44,280+ fellow diving enthusiasts from around the world on this forum
    • Participate in and browse from over 516,210+ posts.
    • Communicate privately with other divers from around the world.
    • Post your own photos or view from 7,441+ user submitted images.
    • All this and much more...

    You can gain access to all this absolutely free when you register for an account, so sign up today!

Acent seems to pull fluid into my euchstation tube

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.

skmetalworks1

Member
Jun 10, 2015
4
0
11
35
Hello all,
I started out with scuba 7 years ago and never had problems equalizing. Last year i was doing alot of exploring in a local lake and realizied i was freediving and wanted to get better. I took a PFI freediving course and passed barely because each dive my left ear would get harder and harder to equalize. I ate nasal decongestants twice a day for 3 days leading up to the course so that i dont believe is the issue.
I went to the Philippines a few weeks ago and had the same issue.
I can describe it as equalizing the first dive is a dream (frenzel very little effort) then on acent i get alot of krackling in my ear from the pressure releasing and my left ear kinda stays like that for every subsequent dive. It usually lasts a few days. Also equalizing is extremely hard for my left ear. I dont believe its water because i used swimmers ear and it didnt change the sound or my ears.
Anyone have any suggestions?
 
Off the wall possibility that happened to me during a PFI course. They teach vertical diving and I discovered that being fully vertical(which I had never done before) allowed a bit of water to run up into the eustasion valve area. I'd get water in my middle ear from this and it would feel strange for several days. Sound possible? It must be fairly rare, Martin (the instructor) thought I was BSing him.

It doesn't happen anymore, not sure why, but proably not diving completely vertical is part of it.

Why were you eating decongestants before the course?
 
Its a possibility, ill have to try bit going verticle. Reason for the decongestants is it was a recommdation as ive had clearing issues before.
 
SOLVED...

So after an appointment with the ENT doctor who recommended euchstation tube balloon dilation with no change i was getting really discouraged that i might not be able to do this sport anymore. The other day i went to the lake and did some dives with some new techniques and tried to see if they would work and the same issues with no relief. Then i went home and my left ear was muffled so i shoved a Q-tip in there to dry out any water and i pulled out a monster piece of wax.
 
SOLVED...

So after an appointment with the ENT doctor who recommended euchstation tube balloon dilation, did the surgery and it had no change i was getting really discouraged that i might not be able to do this sport anymore. The other day i went to the lake and did some dives with some new techniques and tried to see if they would work and the same issues with no relief. Then i went home and my left ear was muffled so i shoved a Q-tip in there to dry out any water and i pulled out a monster piece of wax. To mine and my wifes amazement she asked to peek inside with a light and grabbed another piece of similar size. It looked like it was still allowing for sound to get through the ear but the ear canal was reduced from the wax taking up space. So i think water was getting trapped in this section and not allowing the water to flow freely. I went to the ocean this weekend and was diving 45 feet and equalizing was like a dream. Just thought id update incase anyone else was having issues.

A side note the wax looked like keratosis obturans. I work as a welder and have shoved many not fresh ear plugs in my years over the years and this could of contributed to the problem.
 
You went to a physician with ear issues and he failed to notice a huge plug of wax/kerstin?!
Kinda strange that he didn't look at your ear canal. You'd think they did that before suggesting a procedure.
 
Yep, I get this same effect if I neglect the wax in my ears - crackly sound, feeling of fluid stuck in inside. Ear wax can be sneaky. It can build up very slowly over months or years and you don't really notice it until some "event" happens. For myself, I know if I don't take active steps to remove it that it will form a large plug about 1/3" inch long. I have to flush my ears with peroxide to dissolve the wax. The peroxide breaks down the wax and it becomes dry and kind of flaky/granular and then can be flushed out with water. It's not recommended to use Qtips as you can damage your ear drum, and it also may not really get all the wax out and indeed push it in further making it all the more difficult to remove.
 
DeeperBlue.com - The Worlds Largest Community Dedicated To Freediving, Scuba Diving and Spearfishing

ABOUT US

ISSN 1469-865X | Copyright © 1996 - 2024 deeperblue.net limited.

DeeperBlue.com is the World's Largest Community dedicated to Freediving, Scuba Diving, Ocean Advocacy and Diving Travel.

We've been dedicated to bringing you the freshest news, features and discussions from around the underwater world since 1996.

ADVERT