Edward Thompson77 said:Hey guys,
I wanted to jump in here and see if any veterans could give me some pointers... I’m currently taking an entry-level scuba course that I’ve been wanting to do for years, but I held off because I have a really hard time equalizing my ears. A standard valsa maneuver just doesn't work for me—it feels like my eyes might pop out before my ears actually click. I finally felt a bit more hopeful after realizing that swallowing with a stuffed nose (the Toynbee method) actually helps quite a bit. Usually
I'm super sensitive to pressure; I feel pain at just 3 feet deep, and by 6 feet, it’s totally unbearable. So, I signed up for the class, and I've already done three training sessions in the pool with full gear, and here’s how it went:
Day 1 - Valsalva was a total zero for me. Swallowing helped somewhat, though it's tough to swallow when your mouth is dry, but after about two minutes of constant swallowing, using my tongue to push air, moving my jaw, blowing through my nose, and basically doing everything under the sun, I finally managed to equalize. Once I did, the pain vanished and I was fine on the bottom (I manage to equalize right from the start of the descent). My issues happen during the ascent—the exact same pain but in reverse. I have to keep trying to equalize, but usually, it fails and I end up surfacing with pressure trapped in my ears. I feel the consequences all night—aching and popping in my ears. Day two was okay.
Day 2 in the pool, which was two days after the first—pretty much the same scenario, just slightly better. I'm equalizing faster and can actually manage it during the ascent, so I didn't have any issues that night. About half an hour before diving, I
tried a little trick—I used some Afrin 😁 in my nose and completely cleared my sinuses. Normally, I deal with constant sinus issues; one nostril is almost always blocked. I have chronic drainage and sneeze a lot, so it's possible
I've got some kind of allergy going on. I also have a deviated septum from an injury about ten years ago (I'm 32 now).
Day 3 in the pool, everything was the same but without the Afrin—it was a disaster. I spent about 90% of my time, energy, and focus underwater just trying to equalize, and I noticed I only have trouble with my right ear—the left one clears just fine.
The ascent is even worse. Since I'm still a beginner, I struggle to control my ascent speed, so I often surface before I can equalize. I get this sharp, sudden pain in my right ear, and then I feel tension and a dull ache in that ear all night and the next day. Every time I swallow, there's a popping sound in that ear. I'm planning to see my doctor soon to get it checked out.
So, what's the move? Is it worth pushing through this, or should I just call it quits? With how much I'm struggling to equalize, there's zero chance I'll be able to dive deeper than 10 feet and keep up with the group; I'd just be a liability to my dive buddy. Has anyone dealt with something similar, and how did you fix it? As it stands, if I decide to keep diving, even with the Afrin and every trick in the book, I'd say I have a 50/50 shot of equalizing at greater depths—which also means a 50% shot of rupturing my eardrums. 😢
What you're describing sounds like some major sinus problems. I'm no doctor, and I haven't even taken a certification course myself, but I've got 20 years of experience in spearfishing and have heard countless stories from people at a much higher level than me (guys doing 115-foot, even 130+ foot dives on breath-hold, obviously), so I know they know what they're talking about.
Basically, if you can't clear your ears properly, things can go south fast—we're talking a ruptured eardrum. If that happens while you're out in the ocean, you could lose all sense of direction and start heading straight for the bottom instead of the surface. I won't even get into the rest of what happens next. Usually, when people dive with tanks, they're in a buddy system so someone can grab you, but if you're spearfishing solo, you're basically playing chicken with the deep blue.
My best advice? Find a doctor, but don't just pick anyone off the street—you need someone who actually specializes in diving medicine. I'm not sure where you're based, but if you were in a place like Miami, you'd find plenty of specialists there. Just hit up Google and look for experts in hyperbaric or diving medicine.
And hey, don't take everything you read on internet forums too seriously. People mean well, but some of this advice can be straight-up lethal.