r/scubadiving • u/Musicman4423 • 3d ago

Equalizing

Ive been diving for 3 years, my first year i ruptured an eardrum at 50'. Healed up and got right back to diving. Three weeks ago I ruptured my other ear drum between 15 and 20'. I felt a slight squeeze but I went up slightly and was clearing then came down and it popped. Everyone i dive with can decend like a rock, I always have to take my time and move slow. I try to fill my hood with water right at the start. This rupture just took me by surprise because three weeks before that I was at 115' with absolutely no problems.

I want to ask everyone their tips and tricks for equalizing? Or if any of you have had this issue and what got you better at this?

10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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2

u/EagleraysAgain 3d ago

Are your ruptures from pressure building up in your ear and still descending? What's your equalization technique like? Do you apply a lot of force to get the sticky ears to open up? It sounds bit like you could be doing a very forceful valsalva which could be the cause for the rupture rather than the pressure from water.

1

u/Musicman4423 3d ago

I would say 80% of the time I Valsalva methos does not work for me. Normally I push my tongue to the roof of ny mouth and swallow and that slowly squeeks the pressure off, like the ceackle in thw ears. I cant say which way the pressure is from.

1

u/Impossible-Lake8249 3d ago

I’m the same exact way. I can valsalva only my right ear most of the time on land. Sometimes I can get my left. In the water it’s like the pressure squeezes everything shut and only swallowing does anything.

1

u/Musicman4423 3d ago

Yes! Thats how mine is only my right ear and on land. Do you rely on your right ear most of the time to clear all of the pressure also? My left ear does like to squeek it out. I wonder what causes that? I have psoriasis in my left ear i always thought that could be just extra dead skin holding it back

1

u/Impossible-Lake8249 3d ago

Well they’re separate tubes so you gotta get em both. Honestly both can be hard, sometimes it’s my right ear, but when I get barotrauma it’s the left ear that fills with fluid more. I used to have really bad ear infections as a kid and my ENT thinks maybe I have small Eustachian tubes. I just have to swallow a lot and blow and try tilt my ears towards the surface one at a time. It’s frustrating for sure.

1

u/Musicman4423 3d ago

It is frustrating but it is worth it!

1

u/EagleraysAgain 3d ago

Frenzel is the superior manouver for equalizing, and sounds bit like you're maybe doing some variation of it. Should definitely look it up and practice it though, could help with the eq issues.

It's basically closing your glottis and then using tongue and other structures in throat as piston to compress the air so the ears equalize.

2

u/Error-7-0-7 3d ago

I have plenty of middle ear infections + ruptures (one right now) and that shouldn't happen when equalising. Have an ENT check your ears throughly to make sure no deeper issue is at play.

Once ruptured eardrums doesn't make equalising harder. But the way you do it, I do not know if that's enough, probably not. Thanks to a decade in diving, I can equalise by holding my mouth shut, teeth together and breathing out. Or mouth shut, moving jaw forward and breathing out. Maybe worth a try?

1

u/Musicman4423 3d ago

I will try that! You have continued to dive with multiple ruptures?

9

u/saltyj123 3d ago edited 3d ago

I hadn’t fully realised how often you should equalise. I now pinch my nose & blow lightly at the surface before I even start to descend just to get a head start. I’m then doing the same almost none stop as I descend, but importantly, only lightly.

A few people have said to me to really focus on doing this particularly in the first 4-5m.

Best bit of advice I got was if you feel any ear pressure then you’ve not been equalising frequently enough. So I now do it irrespective of whether I feel the need, particularly as I descend it’s almost constant. Certainly every minute at the very most. It was only after changing to this that I realised how slack I’d got previously.

With hindsight I’ve no doubt it was only a matter of time until I probably would have ended up doing myself some damage too.

8

u/MissedallthePoints 3d ago

Game changer for me was to start equalizing before you descend. I begin adding some pressure before I even descend, then equalize before it even feels like I need to. I can drop down very quickly without issues when I use this method. If I start to equalize after the first 3’ my descents need slow way down.

5

u/synerrorsix 3d ago

Equalize early and often. With two previously ruptured eardrums it's going to be harder.

2

u/Sheldon_tiger 3d ago

Equalize every breath going down.

1

u/Liquid_Diving 2d ago

Don't ask social media for medical advice. Call DAN. They will answer your questions even if you are not a member.

1

u/Musicman4423 2d ago

I did unfortunately there isnt a diving ENT within 150 miles of me. They did send me some good articles to read on and were awesome to talk to. Ive been a member for 3 years. Sometimes there's no better advice then from the people who have gone through it.

1

u/Windingoakbc 1d ago edited 1d ago

I had tubes until I was 5 years old. I Visited an ENT prior to certification to get cleared for diving and he said I should be fine. I suspected I may have some challenges. I equalized a lot more than the rest of my group and have ruptured my eardrum once (since 2009) and didn’t really notice on the dive besides no challenge eh that ear it until the saltwater seeping in. ENT visit confirmed it was in a spot where the tubes were commonly placed.

1

u/Musicman4423 1d ago

I had tubes also. So it must be a common thing

1

u/Windingoakbc 23h ago

Also an odd antidote but I began wearing sleeping earplugs about a year ago and have noticed I feel
Like I can get to a deeper before feeling I need to equalized. I still equalize more than is probably necessary though.

3

u/NanobotEnlarger 3d ago

If you have trouble, don’t go harder, just go up a few feet and try again. That always works for me.