Most divers experience some kind of ear pain occasionally, and in the vast majority of cases it's just temporary and goes away when you equalize. Once there isn't such a pressure difference between the middle ear and the outer, there's no problem. However, the middle ear is delicate, and damaging it can end a diving career faster than almost everything else. Here are a few guidelines to help you take care of your ears:

• Equalize early and often, before ‘ear squeeze’ becomes ear pain.
• If for any reason you can’t equalize, don’t go any deeper. Come back up a little and try again. If you still can’t do it, abort the dive and go back another day. Keep going and you could do permanent damage and even rupture the ear drum.
• Got a cold? An itchy feeling inside the ear can be the first sign of an ear infection. Anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen can help, but if it persists, see a doctor quickly. Ear infections can become very painful quite fast, and if left untreated they can really hurt your future diving plans too.
• If you have got a cold or you’re experiencing hay-fever troubles, stay out of the water. Sinus problems can prevent you from equalizing properly and coughs and colds bring with them a greater risk of underwater breathing difficulties.
• When you’re back on the surface, avoid clearing water out of your ears with cotton swabs. This can contribute to conditions like swimmer’s ear- an infection of the outer canal.
• Be careful around air valves. If you’re going to open the valve on a full tank without regs attached, go slow and make sure it’s nowhere near your ears. A sudden burst of high-pressure air can easily damage an ear drum.
• A little ear-wax is healthy and will protect your ears from irritation. Unless you have so much it’s causing medical problems, leave it be and it’ll look after you.