Equalization of ears

Just signed up for insurance through DAN and got the confirmation through today that I'm now a member (yay for me!)

Just been browsing through their website and in the Medical FAQs section on ears. If you haven't had a good look around DANs site, I would highly recommend it.

Thought I'd post it up here if anyone else is interested or hasn't seen it.

One article "Divers guide to ears" goes into the different methods of how to equalise and how often (every 2 feet or so). But one thing that surprised me was the tips for easy equalizing and a few that I didn't know of, that I might have to try out and see if they work.

I quote (and paraphrase):
* Listen for the 'pop'. Before you even board the boat, make sure that when you swallow you hear a pop or a click in both ears. This tells you that both eutachian tubes are open (These are the tubes that connect the back of your throat with the middle ear).
* Start Early - Several hours before you dive, begin gently equalising your ears every few minutes"
* Equalize at the surface - pre-pressurizing at the surface helps get you past the crucial first few feet of descent [..] It may also inflate your eustachian tubes so they are slightly bigger.
* Look up. Extending your neck tends to open your eustachian tubes.

For more info, heres the link
https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/m...uidetoEars.pdf