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progressive difficuty in equalizing

Thread Status: Hello , There was no answer in this thread for more than 60 days.
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toni_d

Well-Known Member
Jul 15, 2008
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I am one of those persons who is unfortunate to be plagued with narrow Eustachian tubes, making my early dives in the sport frustrating due to difficulty in equalizing, fortunately after a lot of time practicing on improving the flexibility of the Eustachian tubes, learning the Frenzel technique, and clearing my sinuses with saline solution a few times a week, I am now able to dive using BTV up to 15 m and deeper using the Frenzel technique.

However my problem is that after several dives, equalizing becomes progressively more difficult, and I would have to switch to Frenzel earlier, in most days that is fine, but some days the regression is so quick that I find myself barely able to equalize to reach 7 m, and the problem is always with my right ear, I barely ever feel any pressure on my left ear.

After doing some research the only cause that I could find, is that narrow Eustachian tubes are very susceptible to cold water and that is causing inflammation to the inside lining. I can't begin to explain how annoying it is to go from an effortless 20 m dive to a 7 m equalizing limit in less than an hour.

my question is how can I prevent this? the only solution that I can think of, though not one I favor, is to take some anti-inflammatory pills such as Advil before the dive. am really hoping that someone with experience in this issue can offer some insight, but any advice and opinions are appreciated.
 
Do you wear Docs ProPlugs or cotton in your ears?
Makes a huge difference in cold water.
 
Congratulations on the BTV. That takes a lot of work.

There are a wide variety of anti inflamatories, some work better than others for some things and some people. Experiment. Also, Pseudafed works well in that situation. Antihistamines might help, but usually are less effective than Pseudafed. Drugs are tricky and wear off at inconvenient times, plus you are just dealing with the symptoms, not the cause. If you go the drug route, take stuff early and quit diving before it gets bad. You will recover faster. You might try getting off milk, that helps a lot of people. Also, if you think there is any chance that food intolerance is an issue, that type of thing can cause quite a lot of inflammation. Wheat is a big problem for many people, night shades for others (potatoes, tomatoes, egg plant). Getting away from something you are intolerant of can have weird and wonderful effects. My wife got off gluten, which made her feel MUCH better. We discovered later that it cured her of sea sickness, which had been a major problem for her since childhood. She used to get sea sick at the dock. Now it can really be rocking and rolling, nada problem.
 
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Another, off at the wall, treatment is papaya tablets. Put one in each cheek and let them sit for 10 or 15 minutes before the dive. Apparently the papaya enzyme loosens up the eustachian valves. It actually works for some people. Be careful of the papaya starting to dissolve the cheek skin.
 
I am one of those persons who is unfortunate to be plagued with narrow Eustachian tubes, making my early dives in the sport frustrating due to difficulty in equalizing, fortunately after a lot of time practicing on improving the flexibility of the Eustachian tubes, learning the Frenzel technique, and clearing my sinuses with saline solution a few times a week.

Could you tell us more precisely what you did to improve the flexibility of your Eustachian tubes. I am dealing with a similar issue and would love to learn more about how you addressed it.
 
@Kodama BTV, keep in mind that it takes time before you start to see results, but it is worth it. also do not overdo the exercises, and I would advice not doing them at all the day before you want to dive, you can overwork the eustachian tubes causing them to block after a few dives.
 
Hi Toni, Thank you for sharing that document. Unfortunately I already have it and have been using it to practice BTV to the point that my uvula was a bit irritated. I was hoping that you maybe where using other exercises I hadn't come accros. No worries though I will just keep up the practice and get there eventually. Thanx again!
 
Another interesting read!!
 

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  • Freedive-Equalization-Training-by-Oli-Christen.pdf
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I am one of those persons who is unfortunate to be plagued with narrow Eustachian tubes, making my early dives in the sport frustrating due to difficulty in equalizing, fortunately after a lot of time practicing on improving the flexibility of the Eustachian tubes, learning the Frenzel technique, and clearing my sinuses with saline solution a few times a week, I am now able to dive using BTV up to 15 m and deeper using the Frenzel technique.

However my problem is that after several dives, equalizing becomes progressively more difficult, and I would have to switch to Frenzel earlier, in most days that is fine, but some days the regression is so quick that I find myself barely able to equalize to reach 7 m, and the problem is always with my right ear, I barely ever feel any pressure on my left ear.

After doing some research the only cause that I could find, is that narrow Eustachian tubes are very susceptible to cold water and that is causing inflammation to the inside lining. I can't begin to explain how annoying it is to go from an effortless 20 m dive to a 7 m equalizing limit in less than an hour.

my question is how can I prevent this? the only solution that I can think of, though not one I favor, is to take some anti-inflammatory pills such as Advil before the dive. am really hoping that someone with experience in this issue can offer some insight, but any advice and opinions are appreciated.
 
Could you tell us more precisely what you did to improve the flexibility of your Eustachian tubes. I am dealing with a similar issue and would love to learn more about how you addressed it.

If you jump on Adam Stern's YouTube channel he has a new video that deals with this exact thing. He explains some stretching exercises. It's worth a look


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