You read the dangers, and you learn about them in the classes, but until you experience it, you’ll never know how easy it is to get. Were discussing inner ear baro-traumas here and I hope you can benefit from my experience.
I was in an idyllic location, Moalboal Philippines, diving with a very accomplished diver teaching secrets from a master freediver. So I was keen to take the most away from the experience.
I was also just recovered from a cold and even though my ears were equalizing, my sinus were a tiny bit congested. But since my ears were equalizing I didnt hold anything back and was going for it.
After the three day course I had a ringing in my ears so loud that I seriously thought I had permanently damaged my ears. But here’s the interesting thing. At no time did I ride the flexibility of my ear drums, I didn’t feel any pain through out the diving, I simply caused too much pressure on the inner ear over and over.
A little back ground information is required here. I quote from the DAN website,” The Inner Ear
Separating the middle ear from the inner ear are two of the thinnest membranes in the human body, the round and oval windows. These membranes embody one of the reasons divers are taught to gently blow to equalize their middle ears — damage to the round or oval windows may cause a leakage of fluid from the inner to the middle ear. This can cause a ringing or roaring in the ears, and even hearing loss. Window rupture can also cause severe vertigo and vomiting, a dangerous — even deadly — combination when underwater.”
It appears that the most common injury experienced by divers is in fact ear injuries and traumas.
And In fact I believe I complicated the injury by trying too many dry equalizing exercises too often on already strained ears after diving to my equalizing limits at the time.
But should you experience something similar, take heart in the fact that it is a self correcting and temporary injury (assuming it isn’t a rupture were talking about)
In conclusion the thing I took away from this experience is the importance of learning correct equalization techniques and not simply forcing the equalization in an attempt to gain more depth and that there is no rush, I will not try to make the dive work against the odds just because of the occasion or the conditions are available.
When put into perspective, the extra depth really isn’t worth the threat to ones hearing.
I was in an idyllic location, Moalboal Philippines, diving with a very accomplished diver teaching secrets from a master freediver. So I was keen to take the most away from the experience.
I was also just recovered from a cold and even though my ears were equalizing, my sinus were a tiny bit congested. But since my ears were equalizing I didnt hold anything back and was going for it.
After the three day course I had a ringing in my ears so loud that I seriously thought I had permanently damaged my ears. But here’s the interesting thing. At no time did I ride the flexibility of my ear drums, I didn’t feel any pain through out the diving, I simply caused too much pressure on the inner ear over and over.
A little back ground information is required here. I quote from the DAN website,” The Inner Ear
Separating the middle ear from the inner ear are two of the thinnest membranes in the human body, the round and oval windows. These membranes embody one of the reasons divers are taught to gently blow to equalize their middle ears — damage to the round or oval windows may cause a leakage of fluid from the inner to the middle ear. This can cause a ringing or roaring in the ears, and even hearing loss. Window rupture can also cause severe vertigo and vomiting, a dangerous — even deadly — combination when underwater.”
It appears that the most common injury experienced by divers is in fact ear injuries and traumas.
And In fact I believe I complicated the injury by trying too many dry equalizing exercises too often on already strained ears after diving to my equalizing limits at the time.
But should you experience something similar, take heart in the fact that it is a self correcting and temporary injury (assuming it isn’t a rupture were talking about)
In conclusion the thing I took away from this experience is the importance of learning correct equalization techniques and not simply forcing the equalization in an attempt to gain more depth and that there is no rush, I will not try to make the dive work against the odds just because of the occasion or the conditions are available.
When put into perspective, the extra depth really isn’t worth the threat to ones hearing.
