Can you handle the pressure?!

[Echidna]

Fresh-/Saltwater vs chlorinated pool is something I've come across just these days too (see my thread in Tailswimming).
Since chlorinated water kind of mellows the insides of your ear, the ears get a lot more sensible, hurt faster, and become more susceptible for infections.
Also, can it be that most people having trouble with their ears/infections also happen to have a long medical history?
I never had trouble before I became sick.
My guess is, a chronical illness, or even some minor, almost unnoticable health condition, will heavily impact the ability to dive pain- and infectionfree, and more so if the water is chlorinated.

[Mermaid Pickles]

I have a REALLY interesting difference in pressure issues. In a chlorinated pool, I can go about eight feet. In a lake (like Lake Travis in Austin, TX or the one where my grandparents go camping every few years) I can go about twenty feet. (I know this because I went to grab something off the bottom of both lakes the last few times I've been. My dad has the same problem and so does my sister. (the one who can swim) As for oceans, I haven't really checked that yet. The beaches here are a bit.....seaweedy, and have lots of baby crabs, so I don't really like going to them.

[MerEmma]

I wish I had been somewhere deeper in the ocean before, haha. I can easily go the ten feet at the pool without equalizing but the deepest I've ever gone was 12 in another pool. Deeper pools here are over an hour away. :s

[Mermaid Maleficia]

I mean I went down to 10 feet before it was comfortable...i think the deepest I went was 12...

[Mermaid Dottie]

I wonder if my impacted wisdom teeth are negatively affecting my ability to deal with the pressure.... *whistles innocently*

[LaNyah]

I've never had much trouble with equalization. My personal best so far is 25m/82f. I am learning an advanced technique so I can get to 40m, but not quite got the hang of it yet. :/

[Raayvhen]

I'm kind of terrified right now of swimming too deep while my jaw bones are still healing.