heh lunatic, i was about to recommend almost the same thing. I normally try to do it by myself (there’s not always someone around) and it still works mostly.
I just take a huge mouthful, then seal my ears and swallow that in a few gulps. Then repeat as needed. I imagine it would be even more effective your way where you don’t have to break the ear-seal as you drink.
I’ve never tried doing it by myself before - yeah thats gotta be hard to cover your ears and drink the water but I can see trying it when no one is around to help.
So why do you think it works? Something about resetting the equilibrium/pressure?
the straw sounds like a good idea, if one goes with the ear-covering theme. must try that sometimes. I must say that simply taking 7 - 9 gulps of water while holding my breath does the trick for me, 100% of the time.
come to think of it, there must be some physiological similarity between holding one’s breath and sealing one’s ears… something about the pressure inside your head… hmm…