The best advice I was given when I was first starting was taking Claretin the morning of the dive. After that it became easy to equalize. It really made my diving experiance awesome.

I’m surprised the “jaw wiggle” didn’t make the cut. I think side to side is my second fav and maybe a simple approximation of VTO? Great video, thanks Mark.

@leopoldbloom4835

Жыл бұрын

Yawning is a really simple equalizing technique, a lot easier to learn than frenzel, but for some reason many divers haven’t even heard of it.

@medea27

Жыл бұрын

@@leopoldbloom4835 Yes, but you can use Frenzel without opening your mouth or moving your jaw - ie. underwater with a regulator in your mouth. Yawning, not so much.

@leopoldbloom4835

Жыл бұрын

@@medea27 Of course you don‘t yawn, you just pretend to. You can do it easily underwater with your mouth tight around the regulator and still equalize. Try it on land, it‘s like yawning in a boring business meeting with your mouth closed so nobody can see it. It works. 😉

@the.mr.beacher

Жыл бұрын

@@leopoldbloom4835 I'll have to try that

@leopoldbloom4835

Жыл бұрын

@@the.mr.beacher Do so. You’re doing it right if you can hear yourself breathing.

As a beginner, I once had trouble equalizing in the descend and forced it, till it finally worked. Ascending at the end of the dive, I was unable to equalize to get back to surface pressure and had massive pain. At the surface I had problems to get into the zodiac due to a nasty vertigo. I learned a hard lesson about reverse block that day!

Hey Mark so glad I found you again and glad to see you back with SD Mag. That was always a great combination. I am returning to diving after a minor illness and its reassuring to have your wisdom to brush up my knowledge again.

I seem to be able to control the Eustachius tube directly. VTO without throat muscles. It's a kind of Pavlov reaction when ever I think of diving I'm equalizing. Since I've found these KZread channels about diving I'm equalizing non-stop

I’ve had a reverse block before during my deep dive on my DMT Course. Certainly wasn’t fun coming up from the depths… Luckily both myself & the Instructor both had stages with us. But it’s something I don’t ever want to repeat

"Just a swallow sometimes helps", may I quote that tonight to my gf?

This is really handy info, even for non-divers like myself. 👍 Having respiratory issues (why I can't dive) but doing lots of swimming, flying, and driving over mountain ranges, I've used all these techniques at different times to equalise (I use Frenzel or a form of VTO to unblock my ears without even thinking about it). Your explanation of the mechanics (along with the tip to start equalising _before_ getting in the water) just helped me make sense of the times that I _couldn't_ equalise no matter what I tried... the pressure differential was too high. Brilliant! 👍

Who knew there was so much choice? Not sure I'll remember so many!

I sometimes use a variation of the look up. When one ear won't equalize fully and the other is trying to over inflate, I look up and tilt my head to stretch the side that's not fully equalized to finish equalizing it without over inflating the other.

I also use the VTO technique during the dive. Sometimes in the first few meters I need to punch my nose and blow.

@mikelgeren149

Жыл бұрын

Yggdrasil punching your nose gets kinda rough , don't it ?

Know a man that had very unequal ears . One ear was kinda C shape , the other was a large lobed ear . He just grew long hair to cover them !

I always wondered “why do people mean they can’t equalise? 🤨” 110 dives later I now know first hand what they meant 🥲💔 A month after getting covld my sinuses are still giving me issues and I can’t dive 😪

@ScubaDiverMagazine

6 ай бұрын

That's rough. It's so hard as an Instructor when a student can't equalise because there's not a lot that you can do to help or talk them through it underwater.

i always find younger people have trouble equalizing. i always wonder if age have anything to do with equalizing?

#askmark Following you video on equalising... I'm a warm water diver who on ascent or at the end of a dive sometimes find myself sneezing out what appears to be about a tablespoon of thick yellowish mucus with a tiny amount of blood. I assume this has come from one of my sinuses? Question, is this a normal phenomenon? Do other people (you) experience this?

@ScubaDiverMagazine

Жыл бұрын

It's not common and it's best that you contact DAN for advice. They're a group of medical professionals that specialise in scuba diving. You can contact them various ways from their website here: dan.org/about-dan/contact/

@MastereosTee

Жыл бұрын

I do sometimes when wasn't able to equalize properly during the few years of starting diving, but now rarely as later I found out the nose squeezing which we all learn wasn't working for me. I end up finding swallowing technique work best for me, and also, as Mark said, start equalizing before even touching the water.

👍😎🤿