{"id":5538,"date":"2019-10-23T15:11:04","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T15:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ent.gr\/?p=5538"},"modified":"2019-10-07T20:52:06","modified_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:52:06","slug":"equalize-ear-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/equalize-ear-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Techniques to Equalize Ear Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/equalize-ear-pressure\/#But_the_Valsalva_maneuver_has_three_problems\" >But the Valsalva maneuver has three problems:<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/equalize-ear-pressure\/#Divers_who_experience_difficulty_equalizing_may_find_it_helpful_to_master_some_alternative_techniques_to_equalize_ear_pressure\" >Divers who experience difficulty equalizing may find it helpful to master some alternative techniques to equalize ear pressure.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">Techniques to Equalize Ear Pressure: Equalizing ear pressure gradient when diving is very important in order to avoid pain and sometimes lasting damage to the ear.\u00a0The key to safe equalizing is opening the normally closed eustachian tubes, allowing higher-pressure air from the throat to enter the middle ears. The most known method to equalize the ears is by pinching the nose and blowing gently. This method is called the <strong>Valsalva Maneuver<\/strong>, it essentially forces the tubes open with air pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"But_the_Valsalva_maneuver_has_three_problems\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;\">But the Valsalva maneuver has three problems:<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<div id=\"attachment_11114\" style=\"width: 236px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11114\" class=\"wp-image-11114 size-medium\" title=\"Equalize Ear Pressure.ent\" src=\"https:\/\/ent.gr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/%CE%A9%CE%A1%CE%9B-%CE%B5%CE%BE%CE%AD%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%B7.Eviasis-226x300.jpg\" alt=\"Equalize Ear Pressure.ent\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-11114\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Equalize Ear Pressure.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">It does not activate muscles which open the Eustachian tubes, so it may not work if the tubes are already locked by a pressure differential.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">It&#8217;s too easy to blow hard enough to damage something.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">Blowing against a blocked nose raises internal fluid pressure, including the fluid pressure in your inner ear, which may rupture your &#8220;round windows&#8221;.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Divers_who_experience_difficulty_equalizing_may_find_it_helpful_to_master_some_alternative_techniques_to_equalize_ear_pressure\"><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: verdana, geneva;\">Divers who experience difficulty equalizing may find it helpful to master some <a href=\"https:\/\/aquaworld.com.mx\/en\/blog\/equalizing-101-how-to-pop-your-ears-diving\/\">alternative techniques to equalize ear pressure<\/a>.<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: helvetica;\">Toynbee Maneuver.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">With nostrils pinched or blocked against the mask skirt, swallow. Swallowing pulls open the eustachian tubes while the movement of the tongue, compresses air against them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 18pt;\">Lowry Technique.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">A combination of Valsalva and Toynbee: while closing nostrils, blow and swallow at the same time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: helvetica;\">Edmonds Technique.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">Do a Valsalva Maneuver, while tensing the soft palate and throat muscles and pushing the jaw forward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: helvetica;\">Frenzel Maneuver.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; color: #000000; font-size: 14pt;\">Close nostrils, back of the throat as if straining to lift a weight. Then make the sound of the letter &#8220;K.&#8221; This forces the back the tongue upwards, compressing air against the openings of the eustachian tubes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt; font-family: helvetica;\">Voluntary Tubal Opening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica; font-size: 14pt;\">This requires a lot of practice to master. Tense the muscles of the soft palate and the throat while pushing the jaw forward and down as if starting to yawn. These muscles pull the eustachian tubes open and some divers can learn to control those muscles and hold their tubes open for continuous equalization.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row pix_padding_top=&#8221;pix-top-no-padding&#8221; pix_padding_bottom=&#8221;pix-bottom-no-padding&#8221; gradient_colors=&#8221;%5B%7B%7D%5D&#8221;][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][vc_btn title=&#8221;Contact us&#8221; color=&#8221;turquoise&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fa fa-phone&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221; link=&#8221;url:%2Fen%2Fcontacts||target:%20_blank|&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][vc_btn title=&#8221;Book an appointment&#8221; color=&#8221;turquoise&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fa fa-calendar&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221; link=&#8221;url:%2Fen%2Fappointment||target:%20_blank|&#8221;][\/vc_column][vc_column width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][vc_btn title=&#8221;Get directions&#8221; color=&#8221;turquoise&#8221; align=&#8221;center&#8221; i_icon_fontawesome=&#8221;fa fa-map-marker&#8221; add_icon=&#8221;true&#8221; link=&#8221;url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fmaps%2Fdir%2F%2FEyiasis%2BENT%2BAcupuncture%2C%2BGeor.%2BDrosini%2B16%2C%2BKifisia%2B145%2B62%2F%4038.0718225%2C23.8122364%2C15z%2Fdata%3D!4m8!4m7!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x14a19edf40479729%3A0xa4593bd0e0aed04b!2m2!1d23.8122364!2d38.0718225||target:%20_blank|&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Techniques to Equalize Ear Pressure when diving is very important in order to avoid pain and sometimes lasting damage to the ear.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150,154],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ent-the-ear","category-neuro-otology-diving-pathology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}