pressure and headache after diving

[TRiggER2117]

ok so i did my checkout dives to 60 ft. 2 days ago and everytime I ascend my ears KILL me. it hurts so bad and im ascending slowly with my instructor, whenever we did my decompression stop for 3 min. my ears are throbbing and then whenever I go up to the surface and get on the boat I have a headache for a few mins and then I guess my sinuses equalize and I'm fine. Will the ears throbbing go away after time? and my instructor said that it was normal for the first few dives and it would go away and im just makins sure. he said it was my sinuses and they might have clogged or something, Is there any way to prevent it?

and 1 more thing. whenever we were on the boat after my last NAUI certification dive whenever my ears equalized there was a little bit of blood coming out of my nose. he also said that was normal and would go away after time too.

so basically three questions

will my ears hurting go away after a few dives?
any way to prevent my sinuses from bleeding and clogging?
will the nose bleeding go away too?

sorry to ask so much but im just making sure cause I love diving butmy headaches are soo bad. plz help

[boates]

Hey, so my experience while starting out was basically the same. A proper...Sloooooooow descent, probably a jigsaw descent, down a few feet, up a foot or 2 clear, down more, up less, equalizing the whole time(gently). Was my solution.

Are you skip-breathing(holding you intake breath, before exhaling)? This is a major contributor to headaches felt immediately upon leaving the water. Kinda like a hammer hitting you on the back of your head.

Blood from you nose can be from to forceful, and incorrect clearing technique. Or it could be from a mask squeezze, not equalizing your mask,by snorting a small puff into it(from your nose). Using Valsava probably, you may be pinching your nose and blowing too hard, to force a result(won't happen), this oftn results in a reverse block, which is what your describing(ear pain upon ascent). When this happens, you have to see-saw up (and prey!). In reverse. This reverse block can blow your eardrum, as can a improper descent.

Again I'm speaking from my experiences only, not a doc.

Contact Dan with these problems, and you'll get answers by dive medical people.



good luck. In time you can most likely work through this if it's not a physical limitation issue.

[DIVERHERB]

I know this is going to go against what most people are taught, and I am not a doctor but this works for me. About an hour before heading out I take a 12hr sudafed decongestant. Not always but I can usually tell when I get up in the morning if I can expect a problem. As I am usually the first in the water to set the anchor and others are waiting to get in the water the last thing I need is to have problems equalizing. Sounds like your problems on ascent are directly related to your clearing problems, I would guess that your sinus cavity is not equalizing properly

[Jack Hammer]

If your ears hurt you need to stop and change direction. Don't force them ever, you can do serious damage. I forced (once) my ears to equalize and later had frothy snot with blood in it in my nose (stupid) plus a head that lasted a few days. It took a few months after that til I could equalize normally again - lesson learned - the hard way.

I've found that when I have trouble I just go back up/down 5 feet or so and wait 10-20seconds to let my ears slowly adjust, then they start equalizing easily from that point. Just go slow, as slow as it takes.

Jack

[petronius]

Are you sure you didn't have a mild cold or congestion on these dives?

If you're having trouble equalizing on ascent, one thing you can try is a 'reverse valsalva' - basically pinch your nose and suck. However, ascending and descending s l o w l y and reversing direction at the first hint of blockage is a better idea.

You really don't want to force it, ever - if you're clearing vigorously on the way down you may be irritating your tubes to the point that it causes the problem on the way up. Maybe keep your next dives shallower, and work down to deeper depths as you become more comfortable with the clearing process?

Just my opinion, but significant ear pain isn't something that I'd want to take a wait-and-see approach on - I'd get a second opinion from DAN or a doctor with some diving-related knowledge...

[acamato]

as boats said I would call DAN and get their opinion.

[mm2002]

I agree to call DAN with your specific symptoms, and go from there. One thing you'll find very beneficial is to practice the Valsalva maneuver in your day to day life. It will help keep your Eustachian tubes in shape for diving. Like any other part of your body, exercise them.

[navyhmc]

You're giving an almost text-book example of sinus squeeze. Blood coming out of your nose after a dive is never a good thing. If this happens everytime, I would definitely be very concerned. A bit of sudaphed might help. Is it possible you had some hayfever/allergy issues on the dive?

[Jack Hammer]

There is absolutely no reason to not wait when your ears won't clear. I've made people wait 2-3 minutes on descent when my ears had trouble clearing. I'd just go down a few feet, wait for them to clear and repeat. Just remember to point to your ears so your buddy knows whats going on. I've also been forced to wait a few minutes for other divers to clear.

Never once has another diver comlained or been upset with me that we took a few minutes on the way down to clear. Likewise, I've never minded waiting for someone else. Take your time and don't risk damaging your ears.

Jack

[navyhmc]

I've never had a bad thing to say to a diver with ear problems. I've been there and will be there again so I know what's going on. To me it's a true non-issue up to the point we have to turn the dive. Then the only issue is concern for my buddy.