acute sinusitus after saltwater

[SuzukiGirl]

I prused the board and haven't quite found anything simular except salt water aspiration syndrome which isn't the same issue I have.

My family did our first boat/saltwater dives on Sunday/Monday. On the first dive my son's new mask fell off during the backroll entry (at least, he had a hold of it), after getting water in his face and problems trying to get it adjusted, we switched masks because mine would fit him. During the swap, I was hit by a wave and got saltwater up my nose. Not very pleasant but no biggy. Sunday's dives were fine but by that evening my son had a full blown acute sinusitis and sat out Monday's dive. I was mildly irritated but could breathe fine and had no problems the next morning. I was slow to equalize on the first dive and upon returning to the boat used ear drops to "dry" my ears because they seemed muffled. On the second dive, I stayed above my buddy because of my ears and my mask kept leaking. I had to clear it a lot and sometimes it seemed difficult (I made sure I wiped my face off when I returned to the boat before anyone had to look at me just in case). I was OK but sniffly on the boat ride in but on the ride to town from the marina, I felt awful. My head was congested, my ears were "full" and I felt like I suddenly had a full blown winter cold. It's been four days now & I'm still stuffy, snotty and can still feel my ears need to "pop".

I would say this was diving related, EXCEPT the same type of thing happened to me the last time I was in the ocean--snorkeling. The ironic thing is everytime I look up a treatment for acute sinusitis symptoms, the recommendation involves using a salt water irrigation.

 

[Hemlon]

Have you considered seeing an ENT doctor?

 

[TSandM]

You may have a sinusitis, but all the symptoms you're describing could simply be barotrauma. I suspect this particularly because you said you had to stay above your buddy, clearing was difficult, and your ears felt "muffled". I suspect you aren't equalizing as often or as early as you actually need to.

You might benefit from watching THIS VIDEO on ear clearing, made by a University of Washington physician with a particular interest in diving.

There are certainly a lot of organisms in seawater (which are not present in the saline irrigation solution recommended for treating sinusitis) which could conceivably cause problems if seawater gets into the sinuses and sits stagnant. But from your description, I'd put barotrauma way ahead of infection on the differential diagnosis list for your symptoms.

 

[SuzukiGirl]

I would initially think barotrauma, too, but the same thing happened on the last vacation two years ago and there was no need to equalize while snorkeling on the surface. Since my son had the same "head cold/allergy" symptoms, I'm more inclined to think it has something to do with the higher concentration of salt irritating our sinus tissues. I do agree the ears being muffled are probably due to my overzealous efforts to equalize & mask clear on the second dive (& who knows what germs were lurking in the rental regs). I'm feeling better now (Nyquil works wonders for jet lag, too) and have a new appreciation for "why" we were taught the skills that seemed silly in the quarry shore dives (mask off the forehead, reg in mouth on surface, fully inflate the bcd). On a positive note, my dives were excellent and my bouyancy was way easier than in fresh water with thermoclines.

 

[SuzukiGirl]

Great video, thanks!

 

[ArcticDiver]

One thing I have found useful, in addition to good clearing technique, is using Doc's ProPlugs. These are ear plugs with small holes in their center. These allow my eardrum to be a bit warmer than without and they slow pressure changes.

These have worked well for me, especially in cold water. But, they will not compensate for poor clearing technique. They are not useful for everybody but they are cheap so you may want to give them a try if technique alone does not do the job for you.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Let me add the salt could have irritated the lining of your sinuses and along with the pressure caused them to get inflammed and swollen shut without infection. I may have something similar myself.

Its a PIA having sore sinuses but go slow and try to avoid going up and down a lot casuing you to have to re-equalize.