Difficulty Equalizing

[ADAM1335]

hya.
i read this on a site.....

Difficulty Equalizing
What if you can't equalize? First, don't dive until the problem is resolved. If a diver has trouble equalizing the sinuses and middle ear, there may be some pre-existing problem - the most common is diving with a cold or flu. Frequently the mucous membrane will retain fluid and swell, partially occluding the air passages to your sinuses and the Eustachian tube going from the back of your throat to the middle ear. This not only makes clearing difficult, but it may prevent it altogether.

i have had this problem pritty much all my life. i got my PADI open water about 4 years ago but then havnt been since because i just couldnt equalise. i tryed all the tecniques i was told about about. is there any thing at all i can do or is it a case of no more scuba diving for me? :vangry
adam

 

[Siku]

No there's things you can do! First, start searching the forum and reading up on equalisation.

Like most things, it's trainable.

 

[Salehthefish]

Hello and welcome on DB...

My college has problem in equalization all what is he doing is diving to the depth that he can without a problem also he is staying away from dairy products wheat stuff sour fruits except lemon...

All best and hope you will get everything well

 

[buddha]

except lemon? why is that?

 

[Salehthefish]

Bcos other fruits like grapefruit, orange etc... Increase exertion of mucus and therefore block the sinus... Maybe I were not clear earlier...
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[giericd]

I have major problems equalizing!!! I'm fine floating on the surface but when i get about 3' down i start to feel a little pressure at 6' a lot of pressure and at 12-15' serious pain!!! in a shallow dive (freedive) to 15' once it felt like an ice pick going through the inside of my left eyebrow and i had the worst headache ever for about a week. My problem isn't gone but i have been able to work around it. freediving will never work for me because i'll need about 5 min to exualize enough to get to 35'. I got a hookah rig (compressor supplied air) and what i do is i exhale so i start to sink from the surface. I go down as far as i can untill i feel the pressure then give my fins a little kick to bring me up a few feet. then I take a breath of air and blow out through my nose hard several times, then start to sink again. I only have to do this about 2 times to get to the bottom and once more when i get on the bottom in 35' of water. once i'm down there and do my final equalization on the bottom i'm fine and comfortable. i can then desend as the ground slopes to about 50' with out feeling muck pressure change at all. I did the hold your nose and blow thing and every other tip every one else had but they didn't do anything for me, the trick i found of blowing out hard through your nose several times is what works for me. give it a try!

 

[Simos]

Trouble with equalising are in the VAST majority of cases due to loss of relaxation, incorrect body position and inadequate equalisation technique. The muscles that control the eustachean tubes also need to be trained like any other muscles and this takes time.. VERY few people have a physical issue that prevents them from equalising...

I also find that often various foods are blamed and so on - while it might be true that certain foods affect certain people in that mucus is produced, in my experience with people I've seen so far this is overstated.

Please do NOT blow hard to equalise - it really is not the solution and can easily lead to injury, not only of the ears but also in lungs if you are deep.

If you can take a freediving course, they will teach you... Failing that, there is a lot of info on DB - experiment without pushing in any way, focus on being relaxed and having the head in a neutral position and do not duck dive aggressively so that you can get plenty of equalisations in the first 2m. Pre-equalising gently at the surface before diving also helps...
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[efattah]

I have major problems equalizing!!! freediving will never work for me because i'll need about 5 min to exualize enough to get to 35'.

I used to be in your situation (1991-1998). But I learned to overcome it and now I have no problems equalizing... So you just need to learn the correct techniques.

 

[Simos]

Giericd - reading back your problem I think you need to work on learning (amongst other things) to control your soft palate and muscles of the e-tubes and don't close them while you pinch and blow. If I understand correctly when you said that you blow hard through the nose, you don't pinch your nose so the air escapes through the nose - of course you can't do this when Freediving without air as you'll quickly run out of air.

When pinching your nose, try blowing softer. The harder you blow your body might just close your e-tubes etc to protect your ears (my theory at least lol) - it's a bit like sneezing.. You have to blow softly into your nose, just close your eyes and just imagine that the air is escaping through your nose. Try it dry and you should feel your ears 'pop' - just be really gentle when blowing.

Having said all this and while I am 100% confident you can do it, pinch and blow never worked really well for me especially when inverted, there are much better techniques for equalising...
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[giericd]

Simos,
I agree with what you are saying. I have never had any problems with pressure in my ears, the deepest i've been is 50' and not the slightest problem in the ears. I know that pinching and blowing hard is a no, no, some thing has to give and it wont be good resulting in an injury. I live 2 miles from the gulf of mexico but only get to dive about 1 weekend a year, i don't do low viz water and the gulf where i am would be like swimming in a cup of coffee. i got tired of dreaming of getting to go to the florida keys for a entire year only to watch every one else have fun because i can only get down 10'-15' max because of unclearable pressure in my sinuses. I realize this is a "free dive" site but using a hookah rig (compressed air from a gas powered compressor fed down through a hose to a regulator) is what works for me to be able to get down deeper than 15'. I still have the pressure in the sinus problem but with supplied air i have the ability to take my time to equalize to get down. i dont pinch my nose! tried all that a million times dosn't work for me. I simply break the bottom seal of my mask a little and exhale through my nose several times sorta hard but not real hard. I don't know if this helps even the pressure in the sinus with the pressure in the mask or what but it works and i can drop deeper, if pressure build up happens again on my way down i just stop and do it again and then i'm fine. Some times what works for one person wont work for the next person and we all have to find out what works for us. But at the same time I'm about safety first so if any one knows a medical reason why what I'm doing is bad please let me know, I want to enjoy the ocean mostly the bottom not the surface where i have been stuck, but I'm not looking to get an injury.

 

[dimitris33]

Dear friend,

I can understand that you can equalize your ears but you cannot equalize your frontal sinuses. This is my problem too since my 15 (i am now 36..) and still have the same problem. Never managed to get deeper than 10-12meters without sinus squeeze. What you are describing with the mask blow through your nose might work as yesterday I was talking to a friend who was an ex navy seal and he told me that for those having difficulties to equalize the sinuses they spent lots of hours wearing a mask tightly and blowing through the nose even in the bathroom. I havent started practicing yet but I will give it a try for many days to see what will happen.

This might help a lot if you do it along with a Frenzel with mouthfill from the surface. So after doing lots of practice at home with blowing against a tight mask through the nose then go to the sea and try this:

take your last very deep breath,
take some packs,
fill your mouth with air and close your epiglotis,
dive,
start doing frenzel repeatedly while going down.

Try the same feet first in a rope to see if it does make a difference with head up.

Apart from the principles of equalization like hydration, avoid mucus productive foods, etc I think it makes big difference if you can be at the water every day.

I am in the same boat and will try these very soon on the water as for the time being I am under medication and is not allowed to dive.

Eric Fattah reported many times before that he had the same issue long time ago. Would like to hear if taking a mouthfill from the surface makes big difference in equalizing narrow frontal sinuses or not.