All new divers face some level of difficulty to equalize their ears during their first dives. Don't worry, it is not as scary as it sounds and with a few tips you will have no issues!
Tip 1: Check that you can, before you dive
The first thing to do is make sure your ears are working fine before you dive in. Do a gentle test before booking any diving, if your ears pop happily, you're good to go. If you feel bunged up or one ear is already creating problems, get over your cold or check in with a doctor.
Tip 2: Equalize early and often, descend slowly
The most important key to easy equalising is to start early and equalise often. Freedivers tend to do their first equalisation before they even dive down, whilst still on the surface. You can then happily equalise at every meter in the first ten meters, better too often than not enough. If in doubt, pop those ears. If one is sticky, go up a few meters then come down again more slowly and equalise even more frequently.
Tip 3: Try different techniques
For some people, the Valsava technique (pinching your nose and blowing gently against your pinched nostrils) does not work, if this is the case they can try swallowing their saliva. Some people may also find that leaning their head from side to side or tilting their head back a bit allows for better equalisation whilst using the pinched nose technique since it helps open the eustachian tubes. Try different techniques and find what works best for you.
Tip 4: Relax
If you are a little anxious your muscles tend to tense up and your neck area becomes really tight, exactly the opposite of what you need when equalising. Try and relax your head (jaws especially), neck and shoulders and loosen the whole area to favorise easy equalising.
Tip 5: Go feet first
If you descend feet first, most people find it a lot easier to equalise. There is no problem with sinking down slowly fins down and getting into your dive position only at 10m. Just plan to descend where you have the possibility to do this.
Tip 6: Use a line or support
If you sometimes struggle to control your buoyancy whilst equalizing (after all you are pretty busy!), why not find a mooring or descent line or even an appropriate reef wall/ sloping bottom where you can find something to stabilise yourself (be careful not to harm anything or yourself) and equalise in a relaxed manner at your own pace.
Tip 7: Stop your descent if it hurts, never force it.
The most important rule of course is: if it is uncomfortable (never mind painful), you should stop!
Make sure you don't continue down until it actually hurts since it will just make equalising much harder and you risk damaging your ears. Whatever happens, if you cannot equalise by bowling gently, do not force it, your ears are too important, and you could be out of the water for awhile
Golden rule:
Equalise early and often, descend slowly
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