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Your Body and Scuba Diving - Your Ears
Ears and your ability to clear them is the bane to all Scuba Divers, many a dive career both of the professional diver and the recreational diver has been cut short by ear pain. But that doesn't have to be the case - short of permanent ear damage, there are things the diver can do to help with ear pain and ear clearing - and keep diving.
To understand dive ear pain, and how to avoid it - first we must understand ear anatomy. There are many causes of ear pain for Scuba Divers, but the most common is ear squeeze. This is a matter of basic physics as much as anatomy. Ear squeeze is what happens due to differences in pressure between the middle ear and the area outside it. Think of a conga drum, this is basically your inner ear, a hollow or air filled space - the Eustachian tube - which is like the base of the drum, capped off on one end by a "skin" in this case the eardrum. When the pressure is greater outside the chamber, like when you are diving or flying, the space widens to allow increased airflow to equalize the pressure. As you descend you aid this process by "equalizing" or forcing air into the chamber by yawning, swallowing, or gently pushing air in by holding your nose and blowing. If the Eustachian tube fails to expand properly, or the changes happen too quickly for the tube to adjust accordingly, the ear drum pushes back painfully inward causing the "squeeze". Continuing to descend during squeeze while being unable to equalize, is like over-inflating a balloon, eventually its going to pop - and then the party's over. While a ruptured eardrum can heal, it will certainly ruin your dive trip, and could end your future dives all together.
Ear, Nose and Throat practioners who specialize in Dive Medicine have several recommendations to prevent and deal with equalization problems. These physicians know that most difficulty with ear clearing is actually related to other respiratory problems like mucus build up. Congestion, a head cold, or allergies wreck havoc on divers. To minimize these problems scuba divers should always avoid irritants just before a dive, believe it or not standing to close to the diesel fumes of the dive boat can cause mucus build up and ear problems, stay away from cigarette smoke, try to breathe fresh clean air. If you know you have a problem you can take a decongestant like Sudafed before diving - but only if you have taken it before and know it agrees with you. While descending clear every five feet, but don't equalize to often, or too hard or aggressively. Natural remedies that clear mucus like herb teas or the over the counter Clear-Ease can help if taken a few days prior to a dive.
All these strategies should help keep your ears clear and your dive experience more enjoyable. If you are experiencing any continuing ear discomfort after a dive, do not ignore it, or think it will just go away - see your doctor, at the very least you may have an infection or damage that could restrict your diving, or at the worst severe damage that could lead to permanent hearing loss.
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