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Scuba Review


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18 replies to this topic

#16 shadragon

shadragon

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Posted 23 January 2012 - 01:02 PM

Glad you had fun.

Do understand that forcing yourself deeper when you have a sinus or ear issue can end tragically. If your body is generating pain, it is telling you to stop the silly thing you are doing. And you should stop, if diving. The really bad part is if it develops into a "Reverse block" which occurs when you cannot clear your airway when ascending instead of descending. From personal experience, that experience is to be avoided.

I am not sure what your dive level is, but I would encourage you to take the Rescue course as soon as you feel comfortable. I feel that all divers should progress to at least rescue level. What you will learn just from self-rescue alone will be worth the course cost.

Plan the dive. Dive the plan. But don't forget to thumb the dive if the plan is impractical or unsafe. :D

All the best.

S




  • grim reefer likes this
Remember, email is an inefficient communications forum. You may not read things the way it was intended. Give people the benefit of the doubt before firing back... Especially if it is ME...! ;)

Tech Support - The hard we do right away; the impossible takes us a little longer...

"I like ponies on no-stop diving. They convert "ARGH!! I'M GOING TO DIE" into a mere annoyance." ~Nigel Hewitt

#17 Landlocked Dive Nut

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Posted 23 January 2012 - 01:57 PM

I gave myself a bloody nose trying to clear during one of my Open Water checkout dives. Sank like a rock, faster than I could clear, and didn't want to lose sight of my buddy or instructor by rising in the water column to clear (vis was less than 3 feet).

Learned my lesson early, and the hard way. You cannot force your ears to clear without damaging something. I dived with someone in the Philippines last year who got a reverse block, and she forced her way up and ended up with severe barotrauma and could not dive the rest of the trip. An expensive error, when any of us would have given her our excess air so she could take her time.

I've very glad your problem was minimal, like mine, and the lesson will stick with both of us forever!
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#18 Capn Jack

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Posted 23 January 2012 - 04:12 PM

On the way down I was having trouble clearing my right ear, but decided to ignore it despite the pain (totally stupid, I know).... I also wish I had informed my DM early on about the problem so I could have ascended some to try to fix the problem before the dive had really gotten underway. I guess you live and you learn. Thanks again everyone for all of the advice.

Take care,
Brenda

For future reference - I DM for beer ...

Seriously - sorry you had the block, really wish I could have been there to help you - Maui is still on my bucket list.

As shadragon pointed out, this could have turned out much worse.
No aquarium, no tank in a marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal.
Jacques Yves Cousteau

#19 grim reefer

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    Meeting folks

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Posted 24 January 2012 - 10:22 AM

I did pretty much the same thing. Back in the dark ages ;). Some barotrauma to my ear drum and a blown sinus (blood in mask) was enough to convince me of the error of my ways.
The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of forever - Jacques Cousteau




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