On Sun, 1 Dec 2002 10:24:20 -0600, Crusty Russ <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Hello to all, sorry I've been so scarce lately, however I've been
>keeping track of the postings.

Amazing!  And welcome back.

I figured you just had an overdose of Chinese food while you were
working on the symphony hall in Shanghai.

Speaking of symphony hall, violin, and the Chinese Cultural Revolution
:-)) ...  "The Red Violin" is a fascinating (old) movie, which you
can rent in video stores.  One of its segments will give you an
appreciation of what Mao's Chinese Cultural Revolution wiped out
ALL music, literature, art, etc. from China during that period of
Red Guard freezy.  :-)

I loved that movie not for THAT reason but for the fact that it was
a fascinating tale and it had good violin music in it!!  :-)

Tell us how the Shanghai Symphony Hall project is coming along.  If
its completion is expected in the not-too-distant future, I may wait
to visit Shanghai and tell them I know that Crusty guy who designed it.


Onto the main event:

>Disregarding most of Christian's missive that Bob has effectively
>dismembered, :-)

Correction!  I was doing only the warm-up job for Alfred to bring
in DAN Medical Director, Dr. Thalmann, for the dismemberment Main
Event.  :-)


>there is one area mentioned that is of great interest
>to me and I recently came across an interesting medical description of
>the physiological effects of the valsalva maneuver written by Dr. Ernie
>Campbell.
>
>------------
>Question:
>What happens with the valsalva maneuver and why can it be dangerous?

( snip )

The keyword is "can", and certainly so.  Many newbies blow their
eardrums off.  Less frequently are some of the other POTENTIAL
dangers of the manoeuver -- just like the daner of DIVING!  :-)

Dr. Campbell did a much, much better job THIS time.   :-)))))

>You can see why it would be better if a diver learned another clearing
>technique.

Only if the Valsalva is inadequate AND/OR improperly done by a diver.


>Personally, I have found the Toynbee maneuver to be much more effective,
>reliable, and 'easy on the ears' way of clearing than valsalva.

If it works best you, then it's best for you.  As I said, different
Folks, different Strokes.  :-))  I have NEVER had any problem clearing
my ears using the Valsalva, but have tried the rest and found them
to be inferior, and that's why it's best for ME.

This, as in ANY medical diagnosis or recommendation, must be done on a

                       CASE by CASE basis

except some extreme truisim such as "you should not point a loaded
gun on your forehead and pull the trigger."  :-)

That's why both DAN and the medical profession has now eliminated many
FORMER "absolute contraindications" to diving (such as diabetes,
asthma, etc., etc.)  in favor of making the more sensible AND correct
recommendation of "consult the physician on a case by case basis".

>In any case, it can't hurt to repeat Bob's excellent suggestion:
> > Whatever you read, cycle them through the computer between your ears!

Thanks for your endorsement, Crusty.

I followed my own recommendation and cycled yours through, and you
were reading some that came out of my recycle process.    :-)))))

Much of what Crusty didn't snip from my post was more or less
irrelevant to the Valsalva technique itself.  So, I snipped them
all.  Except perhaps this by-product.  :-)
>>
>> That's YOUR abuse of Valsalva, if you use it to gauge depth.  :-)
>> That's what your depth gauge or computer are for!

-- Bob.