Bad sinus squeeze....Can anyone lend some advice

[sappnasty]

Let me first start of by saying that I recently attended the 6th Annual Fossil Bash with ScubaBoard which was freakin' awesome!!! Well anyways, while I was there I logged 3 rather lengthy shore dives......I did my first two dives on Saturday and had no problems.....But on Sunday I went back and as me and my wife were trying to submerge, at about 4-6 feet, I began to have this terrible pain right in my right eyebrow. I recognized it as a squeeze and went up a bit and tried again....the same thing! Now I don't have any problems equalizing my ears at all...but the sinus squeeze was almost unbearable......I signaled to my wife to surface and gave it a few minutes and tried again.......same thing except it subsided a little bit as I equalized my ears on the way down. When I reached the bottom the pain had almost went away all together...besides a small discomfort for the rest of the dive but was dealable. Well today I was in the swimming pool when I attempted to swim to the bottom...as I desended, I began to have that terrible sinus squeeze again.....but this time I could not get it to go away. Now I know I shouldn't push it, but I'm worried about it. Now I'm not sick and I feel fine....DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS AND HOW I CAN SOLVE IT? I'VE BEEN TOLD THAT I COULD TAKE SUDAFED OR SOME OTHER DECONGESTANT......BUT HAS ANYONE ELSE EXPERIENCED THIS? WHAT DID YOU DO?

Well by the way....in case you were wondering, I did find my first Megalodon tooth on one of my shore dives...it was in good condition except missing a small piece of the root and is about 2inches long!!! I have already made it into a necklace that I'm proudly wearing right now....

Michael

 

[tc]

You might just have a bit of swelling somewhere in the sinus that's causing the pain. Let it rest and get back to normal for a bit, if that doesn't do it a trip to the ENT doc may be in order.

Sudafed can help a bit, but you want to make sure you don't have anything more serious than a bit of congestion going on first.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

I've had that on a couple of occasions and have discovered it's sometimes the only symptom I get when I have a sinus infection. I'm back to normal after a round of antibiotics.

Pushing through the pain and doing a dive can result in a reverse block as you ascend. You DO NOT want to be at 40 feet and in pain knowing the air volume is going to double in your sinuses before you reach the surface. I've been there, it's no fun ascending slowly and in mind-blowing pain while hoping the sinus doesn't rupture and fill your mask with blood.

You need to find the cause before you can do anything about it. See your doctor, if it's not a sinus infection find out if it's allergy related (even if you don't think you have allergies) then work on finding a way to prevent it.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[ppo2_diver]

I get sinus squeeze in early fall and spring (when seasons change). Mine is mostly due to allergies. I shoot some Flonase up there and I'm fine.

BTW, I did fight through it once and had a reverse block. Filled my mask with blood and blood all over the place once I got back on the boat. It is not fun.