7 replies to this topic

[Bubble2Bubble]

Diving Medicine FAQs
Ear Equalizing


Q: It takes me a long time to equalize my ears when descending in the water. How can I avoid this so my diving buddies will not have to wait for me?

A: On descent, the air in the middle ears is reduced in volume by the increasing surrounding (ambient) pressure. Some divers can equalize their middle ears easily, but on occasion every diver has had some trouble. Others always have difficulty.

The culprit is the inability of the Eustachian tube to open. The tube extends from the middle ear to the back of the throat, above the palate. It is lined by the same kind of lining as the nose and sinuses and is subject to any inflammation that can occur in those areas. If there is enough swelling or mechanical obstruction, then equalizing can be difficult, if not impossible.

To avoid difficulty, you need to control all acute nasal and sinus problems. If cleared by your physician, using decongestant medications may be helpful. Equalize early and often. Use proper techniques.

Don't let your buddies rush you. If you do there may be permanent damage.



FYI



B2B

[sharky]

I have never had a problem with that, but Ill tell you what. Last weekend when we went diving & for some reason, out of nowhere my left ear poped??? we where at about 40 feet & just swiming along the bottom, everything was great & then all of a sudden "POP!!" not only did it actualy hurt for a minute, it scared the S**T out of me ., then a few minutes later the pain faded & everything was fine again. didint have a problem the rest of the day. Has anyone else ever had that happen?

[annasea]

Even though the pain went away, I hope you went to your doctor to get it checked out, sharky.

[Bubble2Bubble]

Annasea Your The Best


You never give up caring for other people


I wonder who else has troubles equalizing and do they recommend anything to take and do they take any Meds themselves for it??


Curious B2B

[Basslet]

My ENT, recommended by DAN, told me to use Sudafed. I have really tiny eustachian tubes. Left one usually gives me some kind of trouble.

[Desert_Diver]

My ENT, recommended by DAN, told me to use Sudafed. I have really tiny eustachian tubes. Left one usually gives me some kind of trouble.

As a professional sinus sufferer, I found the cheapest way to buy Sudafed is to get the prescription version and break 'em in half. The Guaifenesin is a big help, too! It loosens the mucous so things stay lubricated properly, and helps when you're sucking 0% humidity from a tank. The prescription strength is about double a normal dose, and most of the generic versions of it are scored to make breaking easy. I used to have one prescription for Sudafed and another for Guaifenesin (gwa-FEN-a-sin), and saved $$$ when they combined 'em.

For a while, Tylenol made an OTC version of Entex PSE at normal strength, but it disappeared when everybody started sticking 'em behind the counters. I really wish there was an inert additive they could mix in that'd screw up the crack chemists, so we could get back to normal.

[Brinybay]

On a related subject, hoping it's not too far off topic, I was wondering if others experienced discomfort from the stress placed on the sinus cavities from all the air compressing then expanding, particularly when you dive more than what you're used to. That's w/o any trouble equalizing. For example, last weekend I did two dives about 15hrs apart. The first dive was to 106fsw, deeper than my normal profile of around 70-80fsw. The next day I did a dive to 79fsw. Repetitive dives are not my usual m.o., most of the time I do one dive on a weekend (yeah, I know, what a slacker!)

Monday morning I woke up with a roaring headache that was difficult to shake, and I noticed my left sinus cavity was sore, like when you have a minor sinus infection. I attributed the headache and discomfort to the stress I put on them from doing more dives and going a little deeper than what I'm used to.

[Bubble2Bubble]

Greg now that you have mentioned it I was diving a shore dive one time and after I got out of the water I felt some discomfort on the bridge of my nose right between the eyes and it scared the Jesus out of me! and sense I have never had that happen to me before or sense I blamed it on the UW pressure from diving ? on another note I havnt seen this lately but I remember most Dive Ops would recomend/asking you nicely (hint) to take a few Dramamine pills on the boat ride out to the dive site because it would help you with sea sickness and sinus flare-ups. maybe they dont want to push pills anymore because of liability reasons?


B2B