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Diver clearing ears Section of the human ear, the Eustachian tube is shown in colour. Ear clearing, clearing the ears or equalization is any of various maneuvers to equalize the pressure in the middle ear with the outside pressure, by letting air enter along the Eustachian tubes, as this does not always happen automatically when the pressure in the middle ear is lower than the outside pressure.
Because the glottis is closed, air cannot return to the lungs. The tongue creates an airtight seal against the upper teeth or in the rear of the mouth, preventing air from escaping. Because there is nowhere else for the air to go, it enters the eustachian tubes and the middle ear, equalizing the pressure. [4]
Variations of the maneuver can be used either in medical examination as a test of cardiac function and autonomic nervous control of the heart (because the maneuver raises the pressure in the lungs), or to clear the ears and sinuses (that is, to equalize pressure between them) when ambient pressure changes, as in scuba diving, hyperbaric oxygen ...
For those with Eustachian tube dysfunction, their ear has a hard time equalizing the pressure. What to do. There are a few different ways to relieve sinus pressure. One of the most common methods ...
These are surface oriented dives, where the diver starts and ends the dive at atmospheric pressure, and saturation dives, where the diver remains under pressure close to that of the working depth before, during, and after the underwater dive exposure, and is compressed before a series of dives, and decompressed at the end of the series of dives.
Middle ear barotrauma (MEBT), also known to underwater divers as ear squeeze and reverse ear squeeze, is an injury caused by a difference in pressure between the external ear canal and the middle ear. It is common in underwater divers and usually occurs when the diver does not equalise sufficiently during descent or, less commonly, on ascent.
The pressure in the middle ear not equalizing with external (ambient) pressure, usually due to failure to clear the Eustachian tube. [31] Ears can be equalized early and often during the descent, before the stretching is painful. The diver can check if the ears will clear on the surface as a precondition for diving. [31]
Under normal circumstances, the human Eustachian tube is closed, but it can open to let a small amount of air through to prevent damage by equalizing pressure between the middle ear and the atmosphere. Pressure differences cause temporary conductive hearing loss by decreased motion of the tympanic membrane and ossicles of the ear. [13]