New to diving!

[MikeCouves]

Hey I am new to diving. I am not planning on getting into diving either. But I was reading some posts, it's called "equalizing" is it? I was swimming in a normal pool and when I swam vertically to the bottom my nose and sinus cavaties hurt and felt like there was alot of pressure on them.

I am completely new to these processes so can you guys fill me in? What's the easiest way to do this so I can swim to the bottom of the pool without that feeling?

 

[SASpearo]

Welcome

Hi Mike,

Welcome to Deeper Blue.

What you're experiencing is a difference in pressure between inner and outer ears. The process of balancing the pressure is called equalizing, and there are quite a few different techniques on how to do this.

The 'easiest' way to do it is also the way they will teach you to do it when you learn to scuba. It's called the Valsalva technique, and is quite straight forward.

Pinch your nose closed, then blow air into it. It's that simple. You'll hear a popping sound (if you're deep) or maybe some other funny sounds if you do this right. You will also immediately feel the pressure equalize between inner and outer ear.

OK, there's a lot of warnings associated with this topic.

NEVER dive alone. That includes "swimming in a normal pool" and doing ANY kind of depth - even one meter can kill you.

Don't go deep without PROPER training. By deep I mean deeper than 3 meters. This might vary from person to person, but always err on the safe side.

Equalize early and often. This is for when you've received some basic training and are going a little deeper.

And please do get someone who knows what Shallow Water Blackout is to watch while you venture into the magnetic world of Neptune and his Mermaids ...

Regards,
Riaan Coetzee

PS: There's no such thing as "I am not planning on getting into diving either" - welcome to the rest of your life as a freediver !

 

[MikeCouves]

Well the pool I was swimming in was 3 meters deep. I don't think I am old enough to get a scuba diving course yet but I plan on doing it because being able to stay under water for more than a minute is always seemed like something very interesting. How old do you normally have to be to get a scuba course? Or does it vary from place to place?

Do I have to do the Valsalva Technique every time I go down deeper? Or just every 5 minutes or so because you said often. Yeah I might actually have to start diving now .

 

[thin_air]

welcome Mike,

to scuba dive you have to be 10, to freedive you can be as young or old as you want to. according to your profile your 14 so you should have no problem.

however this forum is for freediving (and other irrelevent wierd info, and contests now (sven cool idea btw)) anyway..
about equalizing... early and often, often being every 3-6 ft down (1-2m) or 5-10 second.
scuba course, im gonna post a poll about this later today but i would recommend taking one, its for the best you learn about pressure and most of the things you need to know for freediving plus all the extra scuba stuff.

here are a few good threads and articles on this site.

Black out Rescue Thread
Sambas and Blackouts
Blackout-- Whats with the name
Training Tips and Techniques for a Newbie
The Physiology and Psychology of Freediving
Beginner training for freediving
Rescue Procedures for freediving blackout

i know there is another thread but i can t, for the like of me, find it im sure admin has a way of searching for these things,

anyway, hope that helps

ps im only 15 years old

 

[SASpearo]

Eq

Sorry that 'Early and Often' might have been a little vague ...

Waht I mean by that is that you should equalize very early on in your dive - ie the top 1 - 2 meters, and then every 3m or 5 - 10seconds of downtime.

Hope that clears it up a bit.

 

[MikeCouves]

Okay thanks. And you do it in the water? God I have alot to learn.... I will read those articles that thin_air posted.