Everytime I yawn my ears pop but I have to hold my nose and suck inwards for them to go normal again?

matt19849, You state that you have “been doing a bit of diving” It is normal to have to have a medical examination before commencing any Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (S.C.U.B.A) diving and, when qualified, it is normal to have a yearly medical. Following any incident whilst diving, it is also usual to have to have medical clearance before re-commencing diving. All that having been said, might I suggest that you have your ears examined. This would ascertain if there is any excessive wax which might cause your symptoms. If your medical is done by a doctor specialising in diving medicals, there are some extra tests that are done to check out the ear especially with reference to diving. There are many divers who do not need to ‘hold their nose and blow’ but this is the method of choice to equalise the pressure on the ear drum – tympanic membrane – situated between the outer and inner ear. Most divers continually equalize their ears as pressure changes during a dive. Sooner or later, it becomes second nature. Most people can equalize if they take it slowly enough. If you're on a group dive, the group may continue to descend at the normal pace. (This contingency should be covered in the dive briefing.) When performing the Valsalva manoeuvre it is possible to rupture the round window if effort is prolonged and excessive. If on the descent a diver does not equalise ears in time, the Ossicles press the Oval window inwards with a corresponding outward movement in the round widow. If then, excessive and prolonged pressure is applied with the Valsalva manoeuvre the blood pressure momentarily increases causing the perilymph pressure to increase, which can then rupture the round window. Don't wait until your ears hurt. Start equalizing the moment you begin your descent. This prevents the painful build up of pressure and keeps little problems from turning into big ones. Do not force it! Several slow, gentle attempts are better than one forced attempt, which can damage your ears. Never go deeper if you continue to experience pain. Stop or rise a little. Wait until the pain stops, then try again. In addition to the Valsalva manoeuvre there are a number of variations - Frenzel manoeuvre is when the diver blows air against the pinched nose, but the frenzel manoeuvre does not use the diaphragm to blow the air, into the eustachian tube, it uses the throat muscles to compress the air in the pharynx instead. The frenzel manoeuvre minimises probability of round windows rupture, but requires more time to master. – The Toynbee manoeuvre involves holding the nose and swallowing simultaneously. This usually causes the eustachian tubes to open momentarily, allowing air to enter the middle ear. The tubes open only momentarily and it causes a negative pressure in the pharynx, so only smaller amounts of air are able to pass into the middle ear space, so is not as effective as Valsalva. - The Edmonds (first technique) for clearing the ears is to open the eustachian tubes by wriggling the jaw from side to side or thrusting the jaw forward. - The Edmonds (second technique) "sniff and blow" is where you suck the cheeks in with a sniff against the closed nostrils immediately followed by a valsalva. - The Lowry technique is to swallow and blow at the same time. This is a Toynbee and valsalva combination. If you cannot equalize you have to end the dive. I shall not expand on this subject except to state that I am talking from experience as well as from the medical point of view. Hope this helps matador 89

no u shouldnt

cool