Pressure when freediving

Try equalizing just before you go down that will give you a few feet to get your act together then blow as necessary but don't wait to long and if you can't clear your ears just go up a few feet and it will work. All posts are good advice.

Mike

I seem to be the purported guru of messed up ears... it's true! Hearing loss due to nerve damage from not clearing on 2 occasions, one this past summer. Clear as you start to make a dive, and continue every few feet. If you don't clear, come up or level off a little and try. It's easier if you're not completely inverted. Once you learn proper method, and you still have trouble, take decongestants - sudafed, spray... I have a permanent prescription for daily Flonase steroid inhaler, Allegra, and when I dive I do spray and sudafed. The latest and greatest sudafed concoction I take while diving is a time release pill that is 120 mg sudafed and 600 mg guiafenesen (antihystamine). The main side effect of these is... well, for those of you who know me my warped personality! Actually what the sudafed does is to speed me out so I tend to freedive for 3 hours straight (and talk too much). But diving too much is a good thing!
Don't do drugs unless you really need them. Learn to clear. The biggest mistake in clearing (I'm told) is not doing it frequently enough; waiting until the pressure buids up, then it's harder. Check out old threads at Spearboard.com "safety" forum:
http://www.spearboard.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=65&page=1&pp=25&sort=lastpost&order=desc&daysprune=365
Or also Scubaboard: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums.php
and "DAN": http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/
Allen Dekelboum, a retired UCSF ENT has written some good stuff on DAN. He's been consulted by one of my ENT's, but he didn't have any silver bullet to clear my ears. It's a lifelong problem that's getting worse.

A little diving Sudafed story:

My daughter was getting ready for her OW checkouts, had a little bit of a stuffy head. The instructor suggested sudafed. She took some the day before and the morning of her check out. Her head was clear.

As we came up from our first dive I turned to look at her and yuk! The lower portion of her mask was full of blood. She hadn't even noticed. I suggest she rinse before we headed to the beach.

I need to mention that she is a very petite little young lady. I think her load of equipment weighs more than she does, but she is a trooper and does great. The instructor noticed the blood and because of her size suggested she take half doses next time. She has and it never happened again.

Not sure why I'm sharing this story.... just remember to use meds as directed when diving.

Meds?  Whoa!  Not recommended for scuba at least that's what they tell you when you get certified.  Something about the pressure affecting the way the meds might work.

May be different for freediving, but I don't know one way or the other.

-Allen

That's what the book says...but the instructor and the dive masters all recommended it?

Practice shifting your jaw back and forth as you false yawn and blow a little air into your mask to gently to relive the pressure buile up. Of course do all of this without opening your mouth. Ha! Been diving 20+ years now and never have to pinch my nose anymore.
Hope that helps.
Brent

after freediving for a while i learned to do an initial clearing of the ears before i dove down. clear at the surface once, take a breath and then do your dive. this way you can clear a little later and its a little more comfy. be sure not to do it too hard as you probably know, dont want to barotrauma that eardrum.

if you wake up stuffy and sinuses have some pressure, take a little benadryl before heading out and that should help with the clearing.

clear early and clear often.

another cool trick is to fill your mask with a puff of air before doing your dive, that and clearing your ears at the surface before you take your last breath of air will help increase bottom time and you wont have to compensate as much during the dive. weight yourself properly and if you are comfortable everything else will be that much easier.