Important information.
To get started with your new adventure, you will first learn how pressure affects your body in air and water. Right now, you may not be aware of the air pressure surrounding your body on land because it is evenly applied in all directions. However, most individuals have felt the effects of pressure changing while flying or traveling to the mountains. You would recognize this feeling by your ears "popping." This phenomenon represents your body’s adjustment to a relatively mild pressure change.
Pressure equalization protects against a condition known as "squeeze," the uneven application of pressure. Squeeze is always uncomfortable and, unless dealt with promptly, can lead to tissue damage. You will learn the proper equalization techniques for each body air space that can be subjected to squeeze — your ears, sinuses, lungs, teeth and intestines.
Prevention of ear squeeze is easy. The following equalization techniques relax the muscles that control the opening of the Eustachian tube and allow air to enter the middle ear at ambient pressure:
Swallowing
Rotating the jaw
Valsalva technique
To perform the Valsalva technique, simply pinch your nostrils closed and blow gently until the pressure is equalized. DO NOT BLOW TOO HARD or try to force air into the middle ear.
To prepare your mask for diving, clean it with an approved mask cleaning compound. Before each dive, simply apply a special anti-fog solution that you can get from your SSI Training Center to maintain clear vision throughout the dive. Clean again to remove oils and contaminants whenever the anti-fog alone does not work.
Clearing water from your mask is a relatively simple skill you will learn and practice over and over. While diving, if water happens to enter your mask, merely tilt your head back and apply pressure to the top rim of your mask and start exhaling gently through your nose. It’s really that easy.
1 Everything OK yes everything is fine
2 That's no good
3 Let's go up
4 Let's go down
