Descend in control: signal, empty the jacket, go feet-first down a line and equalize early. This is how you avoid ear pain on the first few metres.
How do you descend properly without your ears hurting? The honest answer: slowly, with a reference and with equalizing before it hurts. If you equalize too late, you fight a vacuum you can barely open any more. If you equalize early and often, you descend without pain.
The numbers show how much it matters. In a study of 67 participants in a four-day open-water course, 48 had middle ear barotrauma at least once (a pressure injury of the middle ear), almost three out of four beginners [2]. In a Finnish survey of 1,881 divers, 81 percent said they had experienced it (self-report, 27 percent response rate) [3]. And in the dives where something went wrong, equalizing came second with 38 percent, right behind buoyancy [4].
This guide takes you through the descent as a sequence. It does not replace a dive course or an instructor, because the feel for equalizing is best learned with someone beside you.
These should be solid beforehand (training practice):
Give your buddy the signal to descend. Then fully empty the jacket: hose up, air out. Exhale deeply. You sink.
Milestone: you sink calmly, without kicking or having to add air to the jacket.
The common position is feet first, at the line or next to the wall. You see depth, buddy and surroundings. One hand lightly holds the line.
Milestone: you sink the first three metres without pressure in your ears.
This is the core. The Divers Alert Network (DAN) recommends equalizing about every two feet (roughly 60 centimetres) of descent. At a pace of 60 feet per minute (about 18 metres per minute, roughly one storey every ten seconds), that means every two seconds [1]. The reason: even six feet (just under two metres) below the surface the air space in your middle ear shrinks by 20 percent, and that hurts [1]. The most critical zone is the top one: in the first ten metres or so, pressure changes the most [5].
Do not wait to equalize until it presses. Equalize before.
Milestone: you equalize with every small step down and notice your ear opening each time.
If you feel pressure, stop sinking. Ascend one to two metres and try again. Go further down only when your ear is clear. Anyone who pushes down regardless risks injury. Your instructor can introduce additional methods (swallowing, Frenzel) if Valsalva is not enough.
Milestone: you can resolve a stuck equalization by ascending and restarting, without panic.
Shortly before your target depth you add a little air to the jacket and slow the sinking. Equalize once more at the deepest point even if you feel nothing: a small vacuum that persists for minutes can also cause damage [1].
Milestone: you arrive at your target depth hovering, without touching down.
The first three metres are the most important. Take speed out there on purpose: if you glide almost floating down the line and have already equalized once at the surface, you get through the dangerous zone without pain. After that you may speed up a bit. The descent is not time you save, it is time you invest.
The Divers Alert Network recommends equalizing about every two feet, roughly every 60 centimetres. At 18 metres per minute that would be about every two seconds [1]. With increasing depth it is needed less often.
Stop sinking, ascend one to two metres and try again. Do not blow with force; DAN advises not holding pressure longer than five seconds [1]. If it still does not work, abort the dive.
Common. In one study 48 of 67 participants in an open-water course had middle ear barotrauma [2]. In a survey of 1,881 divers, 81 percent said they had experienced it [3]. People who equalized poorly were much more affected.
Because pressure changes the most there. In the first ten metres or so, volume and pressure change the most [5]. Anyone who masters this zone has most pressure-related problems under control.
Hovering: Holding Your Depth Without Hands or Fins