Tips for Easy Equalizing

Tips for Easy Equalizing

If you’re experiencing ear pain on your dives, you need to improve your equalizing technique. This important skill prevents ear pain by (you guessed it) equalizing the pressure in your middle ears with the pressure around you. Your middle ears are connected to your throat by means of your Eustachian tubes, which are normally closed. Opening them is the key to equalizing. Read on for a few easy tips.

Listen for the pop

Swallow a few times. You should hear a slight pop about every other swallow. This is the way to naturally open your Eustachian tubes.

Prep early

Get ready to equalize during your dive a few hours before. Chewing gum is a great way to encourage the above mentioned pop and open those tubes, allowing higher-pressure air from the throat to access the inner ears.

Feet first

Air rises up the Eustachian tubes, and mucus flows downward. When you descend feet-first, you make it easier to equalize.

Use a descent line

Descending an anchor or mooring line helps you accurately control your descent rate and makes equalizing easier.

If it hurts, don’t do it

If you’re having a particularly hard time equalizing, come up. Your ears are delicate, and pushing through pain can damage them.

To learn more about equalizing, along with all the ins and outs of diving, call SPE Dive School at 301-657-2266 to book a diving lesson today! We’ve helped many new and experienced divers in the DC area have fun, rewarding diving experiences.

The Different Types of Scuba Diving

Four Types of Scuba Diving

Scuba diving is a great way to get some exercise, have fun, and explore the underwater world. An easy way to get started scuba diving is to take some beginner scuba classes. These classes are designed to help you get familiar with the water and learn how to scuba dive safely. When you’re ready, you can enjoy different types of scuba diving, like the ones covered in this post, to take scuba diving to the next level.

Night Diving

Nothing can compare to seeing the underwater world at night. Many types of marine life only come out at night, so you’ll really get to see some amazing things. You’ll use a bright underwater flashlight and communicate with it so you’re safe at all times. If you really want to experience the ocean in its true form, diving at night is a must!

Drift Diving

Drift diving is a freeing experience because you use the energy of the currents around you to dive and drift with the water without using a lot of energy. It’s very relaxing for the diver, and is sometimes likened to flying. Drift diving is typically recommended for scuba divers with a lot of experience.

Cave Diving

If the idea of exploring excites you, cave diving is for you. Imagine exploring underwater passageways as you marvel in the cave’s formations. It’s very exciting thinking about who has explored the cave before you and what life it once held. It’s the ultimate adventure!

Deep Diving

Deep diving is for more experienced scuba divers, but it’s a great goal to work towards. Deep diving is when you dive deeper than 18 meters and requires training and planning in advance. It’s a great opportunity to explore old, wrecked ships or see marine life that you wouldn’t otherwise see.

These are just a few of the types of scuba diving you can train and plan to do after your beginner scuba diving classes. Once you master the basics of scuba diving, it’s like another world opens up and is waiting to be explored. What are you waiting for? Schedule your beginning scuba classes with SPE Dive School today by calling 301-657-2266.

SCUBA Myths

Five Things People Get Completely Wrong About Scuba Diving

There are some people who are under the assumption that they need to invest hundreds and, in some cases, even thousands of dollars in order to start scuba diving. This myth couldn’t be further from the truth! When you work with a company like SPE Dive School, you can start scuba diving right away without spending a fortune on scuba equipment. This isn’t the only myth about scuba diving that exists, either. Here are five other common myths:

You need to be a competitive swimmer to keep up in scuba diving

Being a strong swimmer will certainly help you when scuba diving. But many people believe you need to be an excellent swimmer to start scuba diving in the first place. This isn’t true. As long as you have some experience swimming and don’t mind learning how to swim with all of your scuba gear, you will be just fine when you get into the water.

You can’t scuba dive if you have a medical condition

There are some medical conditions that will prevent you from scuba diving. But there are others, like asthma and diabetes that are no longer the roadblocks they used to be when it comes to scuba diving. You may need to take extra precautions because of them, but by working with your doctor, you can figure out which conditions will keep you out of the water and, more importantly, which ones won’t.

You will damage your ears if you scuba dive

If you don’t equalize the pressure in your ears before doing a deep dive while scuba diving, you may feel some discomfort in them. But this is an easy fix. By using what’s called the Valsalva maneuver and blowing against your nostrils while pinching your nose, you can provide yourself with some relief and avoid any uncomfortable feelings in your ears.

You have to be a man to scuba dive

What?! This one might be the worst myth of all. While many scuba divers were men many years ago, there are men and women who enjoy scuba diving in 2017. Regardless of your gender, you will enjoy it once you try it.

You can get the same experience snorkeling as you would scuba diving

Snorkeling can be a lot of fun. But make no mistake about it: Snorkeling and scuba diving are not one in the same. Scuba diving will allow you to experience something completely different than snorkeling will. So if you’ve only ever been snorkeling, you should open yourself up to the new experience that scuba diving will provide.

Would you like to give scuba diving a try? Register for classes with SPE Dive School or call us at 301-657-2266 for more information on how we can help you start scuba diving today!