by Christobel Rajesh

Created on: August 09, 2011

Scuba divers feel pressure on the ear drum as they dive deeper. Inner ear pressure should be equalized with the ambient pressure to overcome this. Ambient pressure increases with the depth. Inner ear pressure also needs to be increased for the pressure on the ear drum to be balanced. Eustachian tube plays an important role in keeping the pressure on both the sides of the ear drum equal. To equalize pressure, the Eustachian tubes have to be opened.

Equalizing pressure when scuba diving must be done as you start to descend and not when you feel your ears are blocked or when other symptoms like pain, dizziness, nausea or bleeding starts to appear. Learn techniques to equalize pressure before you go in for your first dive and keep doing as frequently as possible and at intervals of every 3 feet as you dive.

There are certain ways you can go about equalizing pressure when scuba diving.

Valsalva maneuver

Close your nostrils by pinching your nose gently with your thumb and forefinger and also keep your mouth closed. Now gently exhale the air. Since there is no other way out, air will move towards the dead spaces of the ears there by equalizing the pressure. Also try swallowing simultaneously which may help if the first method is not successful. Try a few times and if it does not help don't push too hard which may lead to stretch or perforation of the tympanic membrane which in turn could result in permanent loss of hearing. Instead, try to ascend a few feet where ambient pressure will decrease and try to equalize again for better results.

Another technique is to equalize ear pressure are by pinching your nose with your fingers and gently exhaling through the mouth or nose itself. It can also be done by pinching the nose and swallowing in just the air or saliva. This is the easiest method with less undesirable effect. You can also do it by lowering your lower jaw (opening your mouth), push it slightly forward and wiggling it side to side. You can also try swallowing while wiggling the jaw side to side.

These techniques may be easy to do but not when you are diving with your wet suit. Always wear your wet suit hood slightly loose so that you can pull it away when trying to equalize. Never wear the usual ear plugs while scuba diving instead use the ones specially devised for scuba diving with vents that help to equalize pressure. Another tip suggested to minimize ear pressure is to descend foot first instead of head because equalizing ear pressure becomes more difficult when your head is down.

Start practicing once you get up in the morning the day you are planning to go diving and on your way too till you reach the place. Never go diving if you have cold or sinusitis because nasal congestion will block airways and will worsen and will not let you equalize ear pressure properly. Equalizing ear pressure is quite easy but if you cannot do it while diving then it means you are not ready for diving yet. If you feel you are not able to equalize pressure when you are half way diving even after a few tries, then it is better to stop diving and ascend to save your ears.

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