Valsalva maneuver

Rare card · No. 73471

The Valsalva maneuver is performed by a forceful attempt of exhalation against a closed airway, usually done by closing one's mouth and pinching one's nose shut while expelling air, as if blowing up a balloon. Variations of the maneuver may be used either in medical examination as a test of cardiac function and autonomic nervous control of the heart (because the maneuver raises the pressure in the lungs), or to clear the ears and sinuses (that is, to equalize pressure between them) when ambient pressure changes, as in scuba diving, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or air travel. A modified version is executed by expiring against a closed glottis. This will elicit the cardiovascular responses described below, but will not force air into the Eustachian tubes.

Read on Wikipedia · Image U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kate Thornton, Public domain