How to equalise your ears when diving
Ear pain is the number-one reason beginners struggle on their first descent. Here's why it happens, how to equalise properly, and when to stop and ask for help.
Ask any instructor what trips up new divers most, and ear equalisation is near the top of the list. The good news: it's a skill, not a talent. Once you understand what's happening inside your head and practise a couple of simple techniques, it usually becomes second nature. Here's a plain-language guide to equalising your ears — and what to do when they just won't clear.
Why your ears hurt underwater
As you descend, the water above you presses down harder and harder. That pressure pushes on your eardrum from the outside. The air space behind your eardrum — the middle ear — needs to be topped up with air at the same pressure, or the eardrum gets squeezed inward. That squeeze is what you feel as discomfort, then pain. Equalising simply means adding air to the middle ear through the Eustachian tubes, the narrow channels that connect it to the back of your throat.
Pressure changes fastest near the surface, which is exactly why the first few metres of a descent are where most people feel it. Get into a good habit early and the rest of the dive is far easier.
The main equalising techniques
Valsalva (the one everyone learns first)
Pinch your nose shut and gently blow against it, as if blowing your nose. Air is forced up the Eustachian tubes into the middle ear. It works for most people and is what most courses teach first. The key word is gently — a hard, forceful blow can do more harm than good.
Frenzel and the gentler methods
Many experienced divers prefer techniques that don't rely on a hard blow: swallowing, wiggling the jaw side to side, or the Frenzel manoeuvre (pinch the nose and use the back of your tongue to push air upward). These tend to be gentler and easier to repeat often. A good instructor can show you which works best for you in person.
Never force it — and never dive with a cold
If equalising hurts, won't work, or you feel sharp pain, stop descending, ascend a little, and try again gently. Forcing it can injure your ear. Diving with a cold, congestion or blocked sinuses makes equalising much harder and riskier — when in doubt, sit the dive out and ask your instructor or a doctor. This is general guidance, not medical advice.
Simple habits that make it easy
- Start early and equalise often — every metre or so on the way down, before you feel discomfort, not after.
- Descend slowly and feet-first if you can; an upright position helps the tubes open.
- Equalise gently and ahead of the pressure, never with a hard, painful blow.
- If one ear won't clear, stop, rise up a little to relieve the pressure, then try again.
- Stay relaxed — tension and rushing make it harder.
When it just won't clear
Some days, one ear is stubborn. The right response is always the same: don't push deeper. Ascend slightly, relax, and retry. If it still won't equalise, end the descent — a missed dive is far better than a damaged ear. Persistent equalising trouble across several dives is worth raising with a doctor, ideally one familiar with diving medicine; sometimes it's anatomy, sometimes a treatable cause.
Why this matters for your budget too
Ear trouble on day one is a common reason people cut a trip short or skip dives they've already paid for. A little practice and patience protects both your ears and the money you've put into the trip.
Equalising is part of the wider learning curve — see what a course really involves in our guide to how much scuba certification costs, whether to start with a Discover Scuba dive or full Open Water course, and our beginner FAQ for nervous and non-swimming divers.
Bottom line: equalising is a learnable skill that almost everyone masters with a bit of practice. Go slow, equalise early and often, stay gentle, and never force it. Your instructor is there to coach you through it — and a doctor is the right person for any ongoing ear concerns.