# revirse squeeze



## okie32541 (Jan 29, 2008)

i went diving last thanksgiving and came up from around 70-80 feet,i got to around 33 feet and couldn't clear.i was wearing a hood so i tried to get my hand inside and let some water get to my ears but my gloves wouldn't let me get my fingers inside. i freaked out to say the least but the good thing about diving with a buddy is you always have some one there to help you when your in need. THANK YOU JEFF! he was able to get me to calm down for a second so i could fix my problem, but when i made it back to the boat and took off my masked my dad let me know just how serious it really was. i had ruptured the blood vessles in my nose and one of my eyes and my mask was partly filled with blood. my buddy Jeff is a rescue diver for the coast guard so he checked me for the binds and other stuff and told me that i just had a bad squeeze. any way here is the pic of the trip.


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## Clay-Doh (Oct 2, 2007)

That sounds painful! I wanna see a pic of the eyes though after!

DKdiver has a pic of a guys eyes after a mask squeeze, and it makes me cringe just lookin at it.

Glad you ended up alright.


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## Chris Couture (Sep 26, 2007)

Glad everything was OK!


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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

Looks like ya'll put a hurting on the flounder. Atleast you got some fish out of it and glad you had a buddy down with ya.


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## David Ridenour (Sep 28, 2007)

Way to get back on the horse! Glad you had a good trip this go around.


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## spearfisher (Oct 3, 2007)

reverse squeezes are fairly common this time of year. The water is cold, so most people are wearing hoods which can make clearing a little more difficult. Your eustachian tubes are also constricted because of the cold, and this can make equalization a little difficult until they get warmed up, and last but not least, a lot of people are having sinus trouble due to the change in weather, and seasonal alergies. Your ears, and sinuses should naturally clear when ascending without you having to valsalva. If you are getting a squeeze while ascending you may have to descend slightly and attempt to valsalva. If you continue to have a problem, you can give DAN a phone call and see if there are any approved meds that you can take predive to decongest your sinuses and ears before a dive.


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## kennethmandel62 (Oct 3, 2007)

good tip rich...thanks...I was a little confused yesterday when I was having a hard time clearing. That helps a lot.


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## spearfisher (Oct 3, 2007)

yeah, I've been having a little trouble lately too. The change in weather has my sinuses all out of wack. You can pretty much count on any sinus or ear problems that you have on the surface being multiplied x10 when you go under water. That's why the best advice is to not push it, and pick another day if you have to. 

For clearing on the descent, if valsalva (pinching your nose and blowing out of your nose) is not working, you can try pinching your nose and swallowing. This is a much less traumatic way to clear, and once you get the hang of it, is fairly easy. Also, descending feet first will make clearing a little easier.


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