![]() ![]() Management is obviously avoidance of diving in the presence of significant nasal obstruction and having allergy or infection treated. Compressed air trapped in a sinus after a successful descent will cause headache on ascent. Pain in the eyeballs is due to ethmoid sinus squeeze, and pain at the back of the head on descent often relates to sphenoid sinus squeeze. Pain over one or both cheeks or even the upper teeth is referred from the maxillary sinuses. The most common site of sinus squeeze is the forehead, relating to the frontal sinuses. This makes it difficult or impossible for air to pass freely between the sinuses and nose and, with the increasing pressure of descent, Boyle’s Law* operates and sinus barotrauma occurs. Nasal and sinus allergy, polyps or infection can easily cause obstruction to the small openings between the sinuses and the nose. Sinus squeeze causes headaches that are referred to the sinuses involved. ![]() This again can cause carbon dioxide build-up and headache. ![]() Headaches can also occur with wetsuits, straps or buoyancy compensators that are too tight-fitting around the chest and restrict easy breathing. If the collar is very tight, compression of the carotid sinuses in the carotid arteries in the neck can occur with a reflex drop in blood pressure and even sudden unconsciousness – the so-called carotid sinus reflex. This can precipitate a typical carbon dioxide headache (see below). Tight collars compress the veins that drain blood from the skull and brain and can cause retention of carbon dioxide in the brain. Wetsuit collars fitting too tightly around the neck is another cause of headache. It is relieved by removing the mask after the dive and pain usually disappears rapidly. This pressure effect of the mask straps starts some minutes into the dive and gets worse the longer the dive. Adjusting mask straps too tightly in the hope of avoiding mask leakage during the dive causes pressure right around the head, exactly like a very tight hat or glasses that are too small for the wearer. Tight gear is another common cause of headache in inexperienced divers. This will also cause headache when clamping a mouthpiece tightly between the teeth. A malaligned bite or a filling that is riding too high may result in uneven stress of the joints between the jawbone and the skull. This may cause spasm of the temporalis muscles in the temples and produce headache. New divers with a fear of losing their air supply under water often bite too tightly on the regulator mouthpiece. With increasing experience and underwater skill, it invariably disappears. It is due to insecurity about being exposed to a potentially dangerous underwater environment. It shows up as a classic tension headache, with pain over both sides of the head and at the back of the neck. They can occur regularly during or after a dive, at the bottom, on ascent and, very commonly, immediately after surfacing.Īside from the perennial diver hangover headache or a direct bang on the head during an ascent, the following are the usual causes of headaches in divers.Īnxiety is a common cause of headaches in tense novice divers. Headaches usually follow a distinct pattern in each diver who experiences them. The only constant factors are time – about 10-15 minutes into the dive – and the fact that pain disappears within a few minutes of surfacing. Your headaches appear to be unrelated to descent, ascent or depth. What is it due to and what must I do?Ī: You pose an interesting problem. It lasts throughout my dive but disappears within a few minutes of surfacing. Q: I get a headache about 10-15 minutes into my dive. DO YOU SUFFER FROM HEADACHES WHEN YOU SCUBA DIVE? READ ON…… Headaches and Diving ![]()
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