Pain when trying to equalize head down

[WorldsBestGrandma]

Hi everyone!
I have been having a painful pop in one of my ears when i try to equalize upside down. It happens no matter what depth i try it at, last time was in 4 ft of water. What happens is when i try to equalize, one ear will equalize fine, but the other one gets a really painful pop and it feels like a sensation of water rushing in, and my ear will hurt for several hours afterwards and for a few days, feels filled with liquid. I have tried using valsalva, and pinching my nose shut and blowing, then swallowing, and both of these cause pain when upside down. When I use either technique with my head up, it works fine. Sometimes only one ear will equalize, but I never get any pain.
What should i be doing differently?
And since I'm already asking, how do I get both ears to equalize consistently?

 

[Lauri_A]

It's hard to judge what's happening, but based on your comment that your hearing has been muffled, means you may have caused some barotrauma in your ear.

If you equalize too hard or with incorrect technique, you can damage your ears so the first thing is to take it carefully and slowly.

You should always equalize before you start feeling any pressure in the ears. If you cannot equalize, go up a little and try carefully again, Equalizing should feel relaxed and easy, you should never try to push it forcefully.

A good read on the subject: http://liquivision.com/docs/Frenzel_Fattah_English_r2006.pdf

 

[WorldsBestGrandma]

Thanks for the advice! Looking back, when I equalize face down, I usually duck dive till my feet are in the water, so my head is maybe 4 or 5 feet under the water when I equalize. When I equalize head up, I usually try to equalize at the surface, then head deeper and continue to equalize. So I will make sure to equalize a couple times before I go face down. Thanks for the link, I'll read it now!

 

[alexapoel]

Also another thing to check,if you are diving with a wetsuit with hood, dont forget to let some water in, between your suit and your ears.

Some guys even dig a small hole with a pin so the water can always be there.

 

[aharon solomons]

It appears your have squeezed an ear ( Baro trauma of the tympanic membrane). First do not dive till this has repaired itself . It may need a prophylactic treatment with an anti- biotic to prevent infection.See an ENT doctor .
What you describe is typical of someone trying to equalise in a head down position using Valsalva . Valsalva works when you are head up because you are using your diaphragm to push air in the direction it wants to go -up towards your ears . Head down your diaphragm is pushing air about 60cms down towards your ears and working against increasing water pressure .The solution- learn to do a Frenzel or B.T.V. and your equalisation problems will immediately disappear till you reach about 40 mts then you will have to learn another technique .
How to analyse what you are doing now , how to learn quickly to do a Frenzel and eliminate peripheral equalisation problems are all dealt with on my Webinars ,see our Blog on www.freedivers.net

 

[WorldsBestGrandma]

Yeah, the hood definitely messed me up a couple times, luckily its warmed up enough that i dont need it now. Aharon, thanks for the information. I have been trying to get valsalva to work, but I will stop, and work on B.T.V. or Frenzel. Hopefully this will eliminate my problem.

 

[HLanger1955]

One remark...as you don' have the problem being upright I wonder whether there is some problem with the posture. Sometimes people bend their neck as they want to see where they go, but this makes equaliziong more difficult. Once you're back in water ask your buddy to watch (or film) you. Keeping my head relaxed inline with the rest of my body helped me a lot to descend with comfort.