Difficulty in equalising

[liberatortoo]

I've always had trouble in equalising pressure and have never been able to equalise by holding my nose and blowing. The only way I can do this is by swallowing and going up 'til its cleared.

The trouble is I get a very dry throat just before going in and find it very difficult to swallow. I do drink water before descending but this doesn't always work

Can someone recommend a way of lubricating my throat to make swallowing easier?

[thehappychappy]

Can someone recommend a way of lubricating my throat to make swallowing easier?

[DIVE BUDDHA]

davie you have got such a one track mind lol!

[jamie]

Excellent!


If you want to take some form of liquid down with you a Platypus style drinking system could work! (Just try and remove all of the air before you go underwater)

Also, make sure that the 'nipple' is attached properly as you don't want any egress on the way down .

[uncle al]

try SINEX or simular,squirt sinex up the nose and try clearing your ears.

[Naomi S]

I used to have alot of trouble with my ears when i first started. I have the opposite prob i cannot clear any other way than holding my nose and my left ear always clears first! After a few dizzy spinning out sessions in the pool from only clearing one ear i worked out i have to keep blowing till my right has cleared too! I would be careful about using decongestants before diving. They may work on the way down, wear off during the dive and you could damage your ears on the way back up.

My ears have sorted themselves out and i dont get any trouble from them now, just keep trying and do what works what for you and hopefully they will come right eventually.

Happy diving!

[Houseplant]

however you get round this, don't be tempted to blow too hard, you can give yourself an ear drum barotrauma, even on dry land!

[Rob Dobson]

Can you equalise on the surface OK? If so then there should be no problem doing so at depth.

At the OW level we are taught to equalise when we feel pressure build up - typically starting at 1m. This is utter bollox IMO, we should do it on the surface before we go under and then keep doing it all the way down. That way we are at positive pressure and ahead of the game rather than constantly playing catch up.

My 2p.

[Mal Bridgeman]

I've always had trouble in equalising pressure and have never been able to equalise by holding my nose and blowing. The only way I can do this is by swallowing and going up 'til its cleared.

The trouble is I get a very dry throat just before going in and find it very difficult to swallow. I do drink water before descending but this doesn't always work

Can someone recommend a way of lubricating my throat to make swallowing easier?

The "hold nose and blow" works for some .... I find the "hold nose, blow softly and swallow" technique works best. Sometimes the dry air causes the same problem for me too.....I just loosen my lips to allow a tiny amount of water in my mouth .... just enough to enable me to swallow...... probably not too wise in a public swimming pool though

There is a similar technique which involves using "pumping" the tongue in the back of the throat which means you don't have to swallow, but I have never managed to master it.

HTH
Mal

[romperstomper1]

, we should do it on the surface before we go under and then keep doing it all the way down.

This is what I have to do ,it helps a lot !