Dizziness Under Water - Multiple Ascents

[Zeke XA3]

Not sure if this is doctor or I2I but since i cant post there.....

With students i sometimes have to perform in excess of 4 CESA´s a dive (for non PADI, Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent, 10m to surface swim, exhalling on one breath)

Usually i get these done as the first excercise on a 2 tank dive but sometimes this may have to be done later if students dont get it right, ie they fail twice, i retry and the end of the dive or start of the next one.

My question is, on a few occassions, and no i cant point out anything in common with those and not with others, as i approach the surface my point of view tilts. Not my head just the image in my head and turns almost 90 degrees and my feild of vision narrows to a point where i can only see maybe a 1/4 of my normal field of view. As soon as we reach the surface, my view rights it self and and my vision returns. I usually take this as a sign yo stop CESA´s at that point.

I am wondering if this is an effect of DCI or something else acting on my inner ear???

 

[DocVikingo]

...as i approach the surface my point of view tilts. Not my head just the image in my head and turns almost 90 degrees and my feild of vision narrows to a point where i can only see maybe a 1/4 of my normal field of view. As soon as we reach the surface, my view rights it self and and my vision returns. I am wondering if this is an effect of DCI or something else acting on my inner ear?

Hi Zeke,

Given that the visual aberration described is the sole symptom, lasts for only a very brief period, and then rapidly and completely resolves upon surfacing, it is unlikely to be DCI. But, almost surely it is a pressure-related phenomenon.

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual, and should not be construed as such.

 

[SkimFisher]

I recently experienced something similar. It lasted for less than a minute and was gone as soon as it had started. It was at the beginning of what would be a 1 hour shallow water dive - <10m. I had trouble equalizing one of my ears on the way down and attributed it to the pressure differences affecting my equilibrium. It didn't hit me until I swam up to shallower water. As soon as I popped up on the surface it went away and I didn't have that issue (or any issues with my ears) again for the rest of the dive.

 

[cerich]

sounds like reverse block, try slower cesa, most of us teach it witha too fast assent anyhow....

 

[DocVikingo]

sounds like reverse block, try slower cesa, most of us teach it witha too fast assent anyhow....

A reverse block without any pain or discomfort in the ear?

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[Zeke XA3]

sounds like reverse block, try slower cesa, most of us teach it witha too fast assent anyhow....

Yes we teach a slow CESA and yes we slow down fast students but we the imits can be fast and if your an Ins you will know that some people will not slow down no matter how hard you pull.

But this cant be a reverse block as else i would feel pain or discomfort due to the pressure against my ear drum. And it is unliley that every time i hit the surface the block would suddenly clear. If this was a block i would have blown out my eardrum by now i think!

I think its someting to do with the semi circular canals since they control balance (or even more unlikly which ever part of the brain they link to). Maybe the rapid change and expanding gasses pushes then sighlty, tilting them and thus my brain alters my point of view...as soon as i hit the surface every shifts back...just a random guess!

 

[TSandM]

It's hard to translate your description into something that's meaningful to me -- but I have periodic problems with disorientation underwater, where my brain starts to interpret everything wrong and my "up" and "down" for the picture I'm looking at can get 90 degrees off -- and then something goes "clunk" in my head and all of a sudden, the picture's in proper orientation again. I'm quite sure this is related to semicircular canals and balance, and is part of the same phenomenon that gives me the midwater vertigo. I've only ever talked to one other diver who had experienced the same thing, but it was clear we were describing the same symptoms.

You may have something similar, only it's aggravated by unequal pressure equalization between your two ears on ascent.

 

[Zeke XA3]

Yup that does sounds very similiar but since mine is always on a line in shallow water i know which way is up and down it just doesnt match what im seeing!

But unequal pressure could play a part. Maybe my brain is translating the difference in the ears to mean one side of me is deeper than the other, thus i must be laying on my side, 90 degree to my current state and tries to correct my vision....

But its kinda re assuring to know some one has had something similar!

 

[cerich]

A reverse block without any pain or discomfort in the ear?

Regards,

DocVikingo

I've had them without pain, just dizzy, some visual disturbance (room spinning). It's always my right ear equalizing more slowly than my left.

 

[Matt S.]

About once every 10-15 dives I will get a touch of vertigo on ascent. It's usually around ~30 ft and it only lasts about a minute. A couple of times it's hit me at the surface though. I have always attributed it to my ears clearing at uneven rates.