Bloody nose, a good reason?

[whodunit68]

ok...so I go on a 62-70' dive to a neat little wreck here in Florida. Water's warm-ish, I've been here before, I descend slowly (complete with the mild equalization I needed), and ascend pretty well (and slowly) as well. I don't believe I over-equalized though I'm open to the idea (I've experienced the joy in this activity before).
I did feel my first real mask squeeze and yeah, it hurt a bit. I ascended slightly and resolved this.
I get to my safety stop and my buddy is making all kinds of fuss.
I finally figured out what he wanted...I felt something weird but didn't yet know what it was....so I got the blood out of my mask. His description of what happened next: "blood starting gushing out of your nose." At the surface, a few paper towels and ice later (he had exaggerated a bit), we go for dive #2 (ok, I felt totally fine, we were down for all of 31 minutes, had plenty of energy, and I was hydrated).
Long story short - it happens again though to a lesser degree. I have my dive computer cable and already reviewed my profile. the data is reasonably consistent with what I experienced - slow ascent, slow descent, etc.

I get back to the shop and the theories included:
1) my daily regimen of blood-thinning 81 mg aspirin
2) too soon after a flight (it was about 18 hours later) due to...of course, equalization. This one *almost* makes some sense.
I recognize nothing will replace the good skill of a doctor, I was wondering if anyone has experienced something similar?
To be honest, I'm in Florida for a week of diving and this was day 1. I will certainly be taking day 2 off but really want to get back to day 3. It it's interesting, I feel fine right now.
Thanks!

 

[RAWalker]

I experienced the same thing while diving off Ft Lauderdale last May. A good dive profile with nothing out of the ordinary.
Like your case it was minor and I figured it was a case of equalizing a bit too hard. When the water get a bit cooler I don't equalize as easily I have to take a bit of time and as I feel the pressure grab my nose. When diving tropical water I don't even think about equalizing I just go head down and nearly never feel any pressure.
I am also on daily asprin but I doubt this has anything to do with it.

 

[Gilldiver]

Lots of things can set you up for a good nose bleed. Did you get into a lot of dust?

Perhaps you just were on a long flight and the dry air in the airplane did it. It is not uncommon to get bleeds after such flights without diving being involved

Every time I get into the desert I'll have one or two for the first week - dry air and dust do it to me.

 

[letterboy]

happened to me when I first started diving . . . hasn't happened in a couple years. . . never after flying . . . always at local quarries. . . I know not much help . . .

 

[Rhone Man]

I am guessing sinus squeeze, and the blood flow was exacerbated by your aspirin regime.

 

[evil_xander]

No special reason, and probably no need to worry. I get that on about 2/10 dives, nothing aggressive.

I usually have this problem on land as well sometimes, if air is dry, I have a flue and etc, and it always happens with my left nostril, never from the right. I guess some thin capillaries or whatever.

It does serve as a nice chill factor for buddies unaware of it, especially if it was a deeper dive and I remove my mask all blood faced...

 

[Arizona]

I did feel my first real mask squeeze and yeah, it hurt a bit. I ascended slightly and resolved this.

This is quite odd, why would you need to ascend to relieve a mask squeeze? If you let it get to the point of hurting you missed something very important in your OW training. Perhaps this is part of the problem. A simple addition of air via your nose in your mask should resolve this problem with no need to ascend. If you let the mask get too tight as a result of not equalizing problems will develop.

Look back at your other dives and note the depth. You should have experienced some mask squeeze. How did you resolve it then? On your next dive make sure you don't allow pressure to build up. Were your eyes blood shot as well?

I take the 81mg of aspirin as well and never had issues. I doubt this is related to your nose bleed. Your pre-flight time should not be an issue although the dryness mentioned in a previous post does make sense. It could have made you more susceptible to a nose bleed combined with your mask squeeze issue.

Your nose could get irritated for a variety of reasons. Get checked by a doctor if you are worried, but please remember to equalize both your ears and mask early and as needed.

Safe diving,

 

[whodunit68]

thanks all. I've never had mask squeeze before. I've never had trouble flying or after flying due to air (I fly >150K miles/year for work). I added air via nose and ascended...the ascending wasn't due to the mask squeeze but thinking I may have set myself up for something else such as ear trouble. I was not clear in that in my post - my apologies. I missed a lot in my OW training - it was a rushed 3-day class while on holiday. However, thankfully, I know how I've prevented and been able to relieve any potential mask squeeze. The addition of air did not relieve anything so I ascended a meter or so and it seemed to dissipate slightly. It turns out that I may have missed on my mask-squeeze diagnosis altogether and as mentioned above, it most likely was sinus squeeze that felt like mask squeeze. I was poking around DAN's site and even thought of giving them a call but came across a description of what happened and that was the old sinus squeeze. I'm not self-diagnosing but I feel fine and am not worried. I'm diving tomorrow and will watch for it. thanks for the responses and suggestions - all good information as I progress in this amazing adventure called diving.

 

[Arizona]

thanks all. I've never had mask squeeze before.

Even on your OW check out dives? You should have reached at least 12m but hopefully your instructor took you to 18m on dive 3 or 4 as that is your certification limit. Even at 6m you should feel the pressure building up in your mask.

Look in the PADI OW manual for clarification or have a look at this DAN article which it seems you may have already.

On your next dive try adding air via your nose to your mask and see if it helps. You should never equalize as you ascend. Being conscious of this may be all you need.

Good luck and let us know how it went.

Safe diving and happy holidays,

 

[whodunit68]

we did do 12m and 18m on my OW check out dives. When I started diving, the concept of breathing through my mouth only didn't exist. So, I was constantly breathing out through my nose so, to be honest, no, I did not experience the pressure. As I'm learning a little bit more each dive, I'm controlling more of what I do including my breathing. I'm not breathing out through my nose constantly and, there ya have it, pressure builds up and BAM, a little pain. Again, however, I'm thinking it wasn't mask squeeze at all but sinus. I have some good things to think about due to the help of you all. thanks.