equalization problem. need advice.

[13hippocampi]

i'm learning to freedice but am having significant issues withmy eardrums. last november i had a bad ear infection that kept reurning every few months for the past year.

several doctors later and finally the source of the infection was found and removed. there was a tiny ant that had died deep in my ear canal and was stuck to my eardrum. the doctor then tested my ears and said that my eardrums are not flexing.

does anyone have any ideas how to get them to regain their flexibility?

I can get between 7& 10 meters and then can't equalize any further. My ear starts to ache and I have to surface. In the last meter my ears pops and then crackles and squeals for the next hour and another dive is out of the question.

I'm not one ot give up easily. I conquered a lifetime fear of the water (wouldn't even put my face under the shower) and got in the water. To do that and find that my ears aren;t cooperating is beyond frustration.

The doc suggested practicing clearing around the house and while i am at work. He also suggested pinching one nostril and blowing up balloons with the other. Neither seems to have helped after two months.

Ideas? thoughts? I could really use some advice.

Thanks!

:head

 

[SofaKingDeep]

Hey hippocampi,

I feel really sorry for you. This tinyl little ant messed it up quite a bit for you...

It seems to me that your doctor is not a bad one as his suggestions make sense to me, even if it didn't help you in 2 Months.

So when he says that your eardrums are "not flexing" are you sure that you are equalizing correctly? Do you know how to Frenzel? (if not have a look at the FrenzelFattahMouthfill document flying around).

If you are already equalizing correctly and your eardrums are in fact just not flexing accordingly than there are probably not too many ways to "stretch" them but equalizing regularly.
As your doctor said just do it regurlarly without applying to much force.

What I also do not understand is what your eardrums flexibility has to do with the fact you cannot pass the 7-10 m mark:
If you are equalizing correctly you should be able to do that deeper than 10mts, even if your eardrums are not flexing much.
Of course when your eardrams are not flexing much you have to equalize more regularly and have to be careful with your decent speeds because your drums are more likely to rip than with other people.

Another option would be to learn the mouthfill technique(also in Eric's document) and apply constant pressure from the surface to constantly keep your ears open.
But when you are just learning freediving this will be most likely too complicated without proper instructions( a course or f2f instructions).
Also be very careful with your eardrums here: If you succeed with a full moutfill and have indeed inflexible eardrums there is a risk of ripping them.

Another nice tool for your training might be the Otovent baloon.
That's a medical device used to treat glue ear on kids, and can be used for a lot of equalization training, similar to what your doctor suggested with a normal baloon.


Hope that helps and good luck for you!

 

[Siku]

Congrats for getting in the water!

Many many divers are limited by EQ so you are not alone. There is plenty of fun to be had in 7-10m and you will also me learning valuable skills that will help you later, when you progress deeper.

Are you able to frenzel, BTV and unpack? None of these skills are dependant on eardrum flexibility and if you master all three (I wish!) you will be able to equalise easily to residual volume (approx 30m) and beyond too.

 

[gwpcasey]

From personal experience I would also strongly recommend avoiding that last metre and just getting really comfortable with staying away from your limit - this will keep youdoing doing more dives, keep your dives longer and leave you a happier and less frustrated diver!

Just focus on staying at the 9m mark (or wherever your limit is) for longer and swim around, get super-familiar with the feeling in your ears and head at that point, when you're near your limit but not pushing up against it.

Carlos Coste puts it this way: he says that if you rush towards your limit, the limit will rush towards you as well. But if you edge up towards it slowly, but don't push against it, you will slowly push it further and further away.

Really sorry to hear you're getting held back by this but take is as an opportunity to focus on your general apnea, relaxation and see if you can master mouthfill, Frenzel and all that other stuff - you'll be well ahead of most of us by the time your tubes and eardrum sort themselves out.

Good luck.

 

[monkeyhatfork]

30 feet is a common barrier when learning i think. i was stuck at that for a while some people can just do it very easy big tubes etc i have horribly scarred eardrums and weird estatian tubes I've ruptured both at least a half dozen times as a child from ear infections. i thought i was screwed as far as equalizing until i did a feet first free immersion and went down as far as i wanted no problem later on i tried scuba and 100 feet scuba no problem so the issue was lack of experience equalizing properly heads down with proper frenzel. Im really just now getting it worked out well since i get to practice everyday instead of being stuck in a three foot deep pool. some people have to work very hard to get it some people don't have to work at it at all. i think its very seldom that its a permanent physical limitation. but never push you're ears at the end of the day its a finesse kinda issue. patience, anxiety over it will only make it more difficult