Clearing ears without pinching nose

[kbakery]

I've heard one opinion that clearing the ears simply by flexing a muscle near the eardrum and without pinching and blowing is a genetic gift.

I feel it's an learned technigue available to everyone through practice. When I was a kid I needed to clear by pinching for penny dives in the pool. Later during certification still pinched. Even later during the three prong spearing days still needed to but somewhere along the line the clearing technique evolved into a muscle flexing which somewhat resembles yawning without opening the mouth. Some kind of muscle developed and I "clear" often on dry land these days to excersize them. And to change hearing channels, ie, you hear on a different frequency before and after clearing.

Anyone else do this and believe it can be learned?

Question; I'm headed deeper hopefully. I've used this clearing successfully, barring congestion from head snot, to 120 feet and wonder if it's still works upwards of 200?
I noticed that to keep it easy on down to 120 it helped to clear often and rapidly as an eardrum under a slight pressure differential is much easier to clear than one under a heavier pressure differential.

 

[andrsn]

i do it when i'm speafishing in clear water when i have to look like a sinking log. i can only do it during a very slow decent rate, though.

i find that head position, jaw thrust and the infamous "ear tweaking" does the trick.

any sign of congestion and it's back to the normal frenzel for me.

andrsn

 

[bluelq]

Ear Tweaking?

I was able to do the no pinch technique about two years ago, but then I stopped diving (2 jobs etc) for about a year and now I am unable to do the technique.

Is there any way to get it working again, as I was able partly to do it. It usually worked for depths higher the 30 feet. I have only been up to 100 and it worked better the deeper I went. To be honest I miss the feeling, I have been trying some dry training but with no success. Anyways I saw the post on the ear tweaking and I wondered what it was, and if there are any practices that might enable it again, maybe clearing the passages, better control.....

 

[kbakery]

Well, I'll give it a try. Ahh... Try saying ahhh... like you're showing the doctor your tonsils. Then try harder by attempting to push your tonsils out. Try it in the mirror and when you see your tonsils actually move out toward the mirror I think that or those are the same muscles involved in equalizing without pinching. Another thing that happens when I do it is the Adam's apple gets pulled down a little each time I clear.

I habitually clear my ears this way except but with my mouth shut. I'm in the water alot and am always keeping an eye out for ear infections or water inside the ear. By clearing this way I can tell if an ear is clogged or sore so I do it quite a bit. That in turns excersizes those muscles even more.

Hope that helps,

TP