All methods for equalizing your ears are simply ways to open the lower ends of your Eustachian tubes so air can enter.
VALSALVA MANEUVER | Pinch Your Nose and Gently Blow
This is the method most divers learn: Pinch your nostrils (or close them against your mask skirt) and exhale through your nose. The resulting overpressure in your throat usually pushes air up your Eustachian tubes.
Tetapi manuver Valsava juga memiliki tiga masalah:
- Manuver valsalva tidak mengaktifkan otot yang membuka saluran Eustachius, jadi metoda ini mungkin tidak bekerja jika saluran sudah terkunci oleh perbedaan tekanan.
- It’s too easy to blow hard enough to cause injury.
- Blowing against a blocked nose raises your internal fluid pressure, including the fluid pressure in your inner ear, which may rupture your round windows. Don’t blow too hard, and don’t maintain pressure for more than five seconds.
Swallowing — and various methods of equalizing — are all ways of opening the normally closed Eustachian tubes, reducing the pressure differential between the outer ear and inner ear. The safest equalizing methods utilize the muscles of the throat to open the tubes. Unfortunately, the Valsalva maneuver that most divers are taught does not activate these muscles, but forces air from the throat into the Eustachian tubes.
That’s fine as long as the diver keeps the tubes open ahead of the ambient pressure changes. However, if a diver does not equalize early or often enough, the pressure differential can force the soft tissues together, closing the ends of the tubes. Forcing air against these soft tissues just locks them shut. No air gets to the middle ears, which do not equalize, so barotrauma may result. Even worse, blowing too hard during a Valsalva maneuver can rupture the round or oval windows of the inner ear.
Metode Lain, Beberapa Lebih Aman, Termasuk:
PASSIVE | Requires No Effort
Biasanya terjadi selama naik ke arah permukaan.
VOLUNTARY TUBAL OPENING | Tense Your Throat and Push Your Jaw Forward
Kencangkan otot langit-langit lunak dan tenggorokan Anda sambil mendorong rahang ke depan dan ke bawah seolah-olah mulai menguap. Otot-otot ini menarik saluran Eustachius terbuka. Ini membutuhkan banyak latihan, tetapi beberapa penyelam dapat belajar mengendalikan otot-otot itu dan menahan saluran Eustachius mereka terbuka untuk pemerataan tekanan secara terus menerus.
TOYNBEE MANEUVER | Pinch Your Nose and Swallow
Cobalah untuk menelan dengan posisi lubang hidung Anda terjepit atau saat terhalang oleh tepian masker Anda. Gerakan menelan akan menarik dan membuka tabung Eustachius Anda. Sementara gerakan lidah Anda dengan hidung tertutup, akan menekan udara ke arah mereka.
FRENZEL MANEUVER | Pinch Your Nose and Make the Sound of the Letter “K”
Close your nostrils, and close the back of your throat as if straining to lift a weight. Then make the sound of the letter “K.” This forces the back of your tongue upward, compressing air against the openings of your Eustachian tubes.
LOWRY TECHNIQUE | Pinch Your Nose, Gently Blow, and Swallow
A combination of Valsalva and Toynbee: while closing your nostrils, exhale and swallow at the same time.
EDMONDS TECHNIQUE | Pinch Your Nose, Gently Blow, and Push Your Jaw Forward
Lakukan manuver Valsava, sambil mengencangkan langit-langit lunak (jaringan lunak di bagian belakang langit-langit mulut Anda) dan otot-otot tenggorokan serta mendorong rahang ke depan dan ke bawah,
Latihan Akan Membuat Sempurna
Penyelam yang mengalami kesulitan menyamakan tekanan mungkin akan merasa terbantu jika menguasai beberapa teknik. Banyak yang nampaknya sulit sampai kemudian menjadi muda karena dipraktekkan berulang-ulang. Namun ini adalah salah satu skill scuba yang bisa kamu praktekkan dimana saja. Cobalah berlatih di depan cermin agar Anda bisa melihat otot-otot tenggorokan Anda.
Berikutnya When to Equalize >