Depth induced headaches

[lanwu]

Hi, my friend said, 'I've been diving at low depths (maximum 18 metres) but I often get a headache sort of at the sides of my head about b1 inch horizontally BEHIND the center of the ear... (I.e., not the area of sinus headaches). Most times they occur when I descend deeper. Starting happening on dive 4 of OpenWater course dive... 2 days ago. Now in a diving Holiday in Phi Phi on the 1 St dives...

Any possible causes or insights why the depth triggered headaches ?

 

[MaxBottomtime]

Shallow breathing, or skip breathing causes headaches. Breathe deeply and slowly.

 

[Lorenzoid]

It may seem to your friend to increase with depth, but it is possible your friend breathes less fully when deeper due to a bit of anxiety from diving deeper. It is natural for a new diver who sees their air supply being depleted faster than at shallower depths to try to slow their breathing to conserve gas--which is of course the wrong thing to do.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Hi, my friend said, 'I've been diving at low depths (maximum 18 metres) but I often get a headache sort of at the sides of my head about b1 inch horizontally BEHIND the center of the ear... (I.e., not the area of sinus headaches). Most times they occur when I descend deeper. Starting happening on dive 4 of OpenWater course dive... 2 days ago. Now in a diving Holiday in Phi Phi on the 1 St dives...

Any possible causes or insights why the depth triggered headaches ?

This sounds pretty localized for a CO2 headache, and in an unusual location, though I'd be interested to hear if anyone has experienced a definite CO2 hit that presented this way.

@lanwu Is the pain on the surface of the bone, or is it deeper inside?

Best regards,
DDM

 

[jadairiii]

Could also be stress around the shoulders and neck area due to the way your are holding your head/neck and the gear itself. May be related more to the time in the water rather than depth?

 

[chillyinCanada]

Mask strap from mask squeeze?

 

[lanwu]

FYI: I've asked him to register & follow up here... I posted only coz it was faster as he was diving each day

 

[Robert H. Diver]

Skip breathing, dehydration, biting mouth piece too hard. Could be a number of things.

 

[drrich2]

I often get a headache sort of at the sides of my head about b1 inch horizontally BEHIND the center of the ear...

Odd location for a headache. You might ask him to run his fingers back and press where his neck and head connect, aiming for areas tendons insert onto bone. I wonder if the strain of holding his head up (e.g.: if you're in horizontal trim and looking ahead) is causing strain, and making those insertion points sore.

 

[kinoons]

It sounds like your friend is describing the location of the mastoid process.

DDM can certianly shed more light on this theory - but apparently mastoid cells with poor pneumatization can cause ear barotrauma.

“Risk factors for MEBt include poor ET function and poor mastoid pneumatization“

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6147252/“

Perhaps as the depths get great enough the added pressure causes pain in the mastoid process as a referred pain from the ear itself?