Alright here it goes. I recently took the PFi course in Kona and I ran into a lot of problems with equalization. It was no surprise for me because I have always had this problem.
The first day I was fine on the first (10m) and second (20m) dives. However on the third dive I had to abort due to pain in my right ear. I kept diving but only going to that point where I had a small pain in my ear. I did about 2-3 more dives which I aborted. I was mainly working on my form and other stuff like that. When I got out of the water I was spitting blood and had that copper taste in my mouth.
The second day I realized I was very stupid and wasn't doing all the necessary things for equalization. I noticed that my Adams apple was in the normal position. What I had to work on was closing my throat (lifting up my Adams apple) to complete the equalization. Once I did it on land I could hear my ears pop a bit. So I tried it out and I was noticing somewhat of a big change. I didn't have to stop and abort but then when I got out of the water I had the same thing as the first day. Blood in my spit and copper taste. I was a bit shocked because I felt fine.
The third day the same thing happened I could reach the depths and I believe everything was perfectly fine except this time I was really focusing on equalization. When I came out same thing. Blood in my spit and then my nose started to bleed all of a sudden when I was on dry land. It was only bleeding for little while. Now I may have been pinching my nose a bit too much when equalizing but I am not %100 sure.
My problem always occurs in the right ear. I was told by Kirk to have it checked out with an Ear, Mouth and throat doctor.
My questions are:
1. Did the first day open up some kind of wound where I bleed from and the second and third day just kind of opened them up. I figure the first day was the most stressful and opened it up and the other days just opened it up due to normal equalization.
2. Is there anything I can practice to help with equalization? I need to get this down to second nature because it was taking away from other practices. I couldn't focus on anything else really; my mind was entirely on equalization.
Thanks a lot for your help. This seems to be the only thing standing in my way for now.
The first day I was fine on the first (10m) and second (20m) dives. However on the third dive I had to abort due to pain in my right ear. I kept diving but only going to that point where I had a small pain in my ear. I did about 2-3 more dives which I aborted. I was mainly working on my form and other stuff like that. When I got out of the water I was spitting blood and had that copper taste in my mouth.
The second day I realized I was very stupid and wasn't doing all the necessary things for equalization. I noticed that my Adams apple was in the normal position. What I had to work on was closing my throat (lifting up my Adams apple) to complete the equalization. Once I did it on land I could hear my ears pop a bit. So I tried it out and I was noticing somewhat of a big change. I didn't have to stop and abort but then when I got out of the water I had the same thing as the first day. Blood in my spit and copper taste. I was a bit shocked because I felt fine.
The third day the same thing happened I could reach the depths and I believe everything was perfectly fine except this time I was really focusing on equalization. When I came out same thing. Blood in my spit and then my nose started to bleed all of a sudden when I was on dry land. It was only bleeding for little while. Now I may have been pinching my nose a bit too much when equalizing but I am not %100 sure.
My problem always occurs in the right ear. I was told by Kirk to have it checked out with an Ear, Mouth and throat doctor.
My questions are:
1. Did the first day open up some kind of wound where I bleed from and the second and third day just kind of opened them up. I figure the first day was the most stressful and opened it up and the other days just opened it up due to normal equalization.
2. Is there anything I can practice to help with equalization? I need to get this down to second nature because it was taking away from other practices. I couldn't focus on anything else really; my mind was entirely on equalization.
Thanks a lot for your help. This seems to be the only thing standing in my way for now.
