The Frenzel Maneuver is named after Herman Frenzel (German ear, nose and throat physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

 and Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

 commander). The maneuver was developed in 1938 and originally was taught to dive bomber

Dive bomber

A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target reduces the distance the bomb has to fall, which is the primary factor in determining the accuracy of the drop...

 pilots during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The maneuver is used to equalize pressure

Ear clearing

Ear clearing or clearing the ears is any of various maneuvers to equalize the pressure in the middle ear with the outside pressure, by letting air enter along the Eustachian tubes, as this does not always happen automatically when the pressure in the middle ear is lower than the outside pressure...

 in the middle ear

Middle ear

The middle ear is the portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the cochlea. The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which couple vibration of the eardrum into waves in the fluid and membranes of the inner ear. The hollow space of the middle ear has...

. Today, the maneuver is also performed by scuba divers, free divers and by passengers on aircraft as they descend.

The Frenzel Maneuver is performed as follows:

• the nose is pinched closed
• the tongue is placed on the roof of the mouth, as far forward as possible
• the back of the tongue is gently moved upward (as when starting to swallow) – often a click will be heard
• this is repeated as many times as necessary until equalization occurs.

By performing this, the back third of the tongue and "Adams Apple

Thyroid cartilage

The thyroid cartilage is the largest of the nine cartilages that make up the laryngeal skeleton, the cartilage structure in and around the trachea that contains the larynx....

" will elevate causing the opening of the nasal cavities and eustachian tubes, thus allowing air into the middle ear

Middle ear

The middle ear is the portion of the ear internal to the eardrum, and external to the oval window of the cochlea. The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which couple vibration of the eardrum into waves in the fluid and membranes of the inner ear. The hollow space of the middle ear has...

 and equalizing it to ambient air pressure

Ambient pressure

The ambient pressure on an object is the pressure of the surrounding medium, such as a gas or liquid, which comes into contact with the object....

.

This maneuver does not constrict the eustachian tubes, nor does it over-pressurize the middle or inner ear

Inner ear

The inner ear is the innermost part of the vertebrate ear. In mammals, it consists of the bony labyrinth, a hollow cavity in the temporal bone of the skull with a system of passages comprising two main functional parts:...

; it also leaves the hands free, if the nose pinch is omitted. The maneuver can be done at any time during the respiratory cycle and it does not inhibit venous return to the heart. Effort to perform the maneuver is minimal, and it can be repeated many times quickly.