WHY YOU MUST EQUALISE

At 1 metre

The water pressure outside of your eardrums is

10 percent greater than the pressure in your middle ears. Your eardrums flex inward to compensate – you may feel some pressure

At 2 metreS

The pressure differential is 20 percent greater than at the surface and your eardrums bulge further. You feel definite

pressure, and many begin to feel pain

BEYOND

2 metreS

Your eardrums are stretched to their limits. Unless you have equalised, you will feel significant discomfort

or pain. The tissues and blood vessels in your ear may start to break, and as the pressure differential builds, your eustachian tubes will shut, making equalisation impossible

AT 3 metreS

If your eardrums haven’t broken yet, the pressure differential begins to draw blood and

fluid from the surrounding tissues into your middle ears, causing middle-ear

barotrauma. Pain may become a feeling of fullness which will remain for a week or more

BEYOND

3 metreS

If you haven’t equalised, your eardrum can

break and cause water to flood your middle ears. The sudden exposure can cause vertigo