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Tips On Ear Popping

I suspect I will be using one of these techniques on the long flight back.


TIP FOR ALL DIVERS: Practice clearing the night before the first dive of your trip, and immediately before your first dive. It will loosen "things" up.

EAR-CLEARING TECHNIQUES
Valsalva Maneuver: The most common ear-clearing technique, this maneuver involves holdnig the nose, closing the mouth and blowing gently. This raises the pressure in the pharynx, forcing air up the Eustacian tubes into the middle ear. Avoid forcefully performing this maneuver since it can damage the inner ear.
Toynbee Maneuver: Performed by holding the nose and swallowing simultaneously. The Eustacian tubes open momentarily, allowing air to enter the middle ear. This technique will also releive reverse squeezes.
Frenzel Maneuver: This atraumatic method of adding air to the middle ear is accomplished by closing the nose, mouth and glottis voluntarily, then driving the tongue backward, which acts as a piston to compress air into the nasal cavities and through the Eustacian tubes.
Yawn and Swallow: Thrusting the lower jaw forward and slightly opening the jaw, while keeping the lips pursed around the regulator and swallowing accomplish this maneuver.
Head Tilt: Many divers find that one ear clears more easily than the other. By tilting the head so the "bad" ear points upward, the stretchig of the Eustacian tube opening may make it easier to equalize.

Comments (2)

Stephen:

I have tried everything but nothing seems to work. It has been 6 days now. I have been to an ENT and he assured me nothing was blocking the eustachian tube or anything in the nasal cavity out of wack. I had a head cold last weekend and late Saturday night is when this started. Any advice. This is absolultely driving me insane.

Adam:

Sorry Stephen, Unfortunately I'm just a layman myself. Please let me know how and when your ear finally equalizes...

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on December 15, 2003 2:34 PM.

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