Getting Vertigo/ The Spins....WHY??? Very Light Headed while diving.

[Michael Thomas]

Hello All.... I have been diving for 2 years. I obtained my Open Water Advance and year to date I have @ 30 dives ranging from 15ft - 65ft. I dont get it...once and awhile I get dizzy/light headed while diving. It happened maybe 5 times. Usually it happens when Im asending up the anchor line. Out of no where I feel like Im spinning in a circle very quickly while Im going up the line. Its very uncomfortable and am trying to over come it and not get discouraged. I dont know if it was to do with my equalization or its something totaly different. Sometimes I think it has to do with my wetsuit hood trapping the air???

Today I was in only 15 feet and while I was coming up the line I felt it. The spins...What am I doing or not doing wrong??????

Any input will be appreciated.

Im breathing clean air...tanks have been viz inspect...and filled in different places and the same thing happens.

 

[Scott]

On a few occassions I have experienced vertigo on ascents. What I found is while ascending, if I tilt my head back where I am looking straight up, I can get a case of the spins. I know you mentioned that yours is during ascent. What is you head position when it happens? Just a thought.

 

[Rob Wilks]

I'm not a doctor by any stretch, though inner ear issue comes to mind. Give DAN a call, they can give you a heads up possibly. Hope it resolves soon...

 

[Kevrumbo]

I've got the same thing at times, during the first few meters ascent from depth:

Alternobaric vertigo

Transient vertigo almost always is due to " alternobaric vertigo " due to unequal middle ear pressures during ascent with resultant unequal vestibular end-organ stimulation. Pressure differences as little as 20 mm Hg can produce this in the chamber. Approximately 15% of all divers have been shown to have experienced this type of vertigo at some time in their diving careers. (Pullen). This same type of vertigo can be produced by unequal caloric stimulation of the eardrum, as with colder water entering the undermost ear in the prone position. An external ear partially blocked with wax can cause this inequality. The fact that it can happen every time and is transient and not associated with other symptoms such as deafness or severe pain makes me think that it's not reverse squeeze (pain) or DCS (deafness, tinnitus, nystagmus, vomiting). The first thing you want to do is to see a "diving aware" physician to check out your ears (canals, eardrums, hearing, Eustachian tubes). If everything checks out OK, then you must consider that alternobaric vertigo is the problem and understand that unequal clearing on ascent is the cause. Treatment is by returning to depth, if only a foot or two, continuing to clear by whatever method you use, and ascending more slowly. Prevention is the best treatment, by assuring that your Eustachian tubes remain open. Practice of clearing several hours and minutes before descent and the careful use of decongestants can be of some help.
Vertigo​

 

[NAM001]

This runs in my family. the fluid in the ear gets cold and thickens. try wear ing a hood. the name meniers desiese comes to mind also. Meclasin (how ever it is spelled) could help. Dont need a script for it. you can get it over the counter. Sea sick pills has it in it.

 

[PsyWulf]

2 things come to mind
1. Partial reverse block in 1 ear (unequal pressures) - slow your ascent or equalize while ascending
2. Waves,while ascending the line will move up and down with the ocean but your brain disagrees,can cause vertigo - pick a reference point looking up at an angle helps me usually

 

[TSandM]

If this only happens on ascent, it is highly likely to be, as already mentioned, alternobaric vertigo. You can help avoid it by chewing or swallowing during ascent, to help the air trapped in your middle ear to escape. You can also help control the symptoms by providing a powerful visual reference to help your brain overrule the input from your ears -- the anchor line, or a stable buddy can be very useful.

If you experience this at other times, it may be related to rapid head movement when deprived of a good visual reference. This is the issue I have. I have learned to be careful with head movement when in midwater, so as not to provoke it.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Add to possible actions for prevention an occasion nose exhale during ascent. I have found this useful on occasion.

 

[victorzamora]

TSandM pegged me on the head. I'm fine even midwater until I start moving my head around. I look down to check my SPG's, then up while I grab my SMB, then back down while I situate the SMB, then back up while I grab my spool, then back up to tie the SMB to the spool, then back down (briefly) to clip off extra bolt-snaps, then back up to deploy SMB, and then straight up to watch SMB. Somewhere along there, it gets aggressive. If I can fight through it until I get the sausage shot, I can use the line as a stable reference point. My solution has been to feel for bolt-snap positions, grab everything at once, dwell longer at different head positions.

Also, if my sinuses are bad and I pop one ear "better" than the other it makes all of it worse.

 

[cloudflint]

I get alternobaric vertigo a fair bit during ascents during the last 5 meters or so, usually i will feel a slight pressure on one ear but not the other and everything will start spinning, generally if I just stop for a few seconds I feel the pressure go away and everything rights its self