Looking for answers

[fire_diver]

Ok, this last weekend, my son and I went to the lake to do some AWARE cleanup dives. My son was perfectly fine until he submerged the first time. Before he hit 10 feet hit stop and ascended. He said he had a stabbing pain in the back of his eye. We sat on the surface a awhile and tried again and experienced it again. So we called it for the morning. That afternoon, he had been symptom free for hours and we tried diving again, but felt the pain again as soon as he tried to submerge. I've never experienced anything like this, and never heard of this type of diving pain. Looking for any thoughts on what it might have been.

 

[adurso]

Was he congested? I have experienced similar when allergies caused bad congestion.
EDIT: I went to an allergist and found I needed a nasal spray and oral antihistime to saty clear, this resolved the symptoms. I would suggest a trip tp an ENT, family physician, and so on

 

[TSandM]

This sounds exactly like a sinus squeeze. It can be caused by anything that causes inflammation or swelling of the lining of the sinuses, or by blockage with inspissated mucus. If the problem is persistent, it merits evaluation by an ENT doc, but if he was having allergy sx or was recovering from a cold, then it's likely the symptoms will resolve.

 

[dtownsend2000]

Agree with above. Sounds like a sinus squeeze. I have experienced this myself and know just how painful it can be.

 

[doctormike]

This sounds exactly like a sinus squeeze. It can be caused by anything that causes inflammation or swelling of the lining of the sinuses, or by blockage with inspissated mucus. If the problem is persistent, it merits evaluation by an ENT doc, but if he was having allergy sx or was recovering from a cold, then it's likely the symptoms will resolve.

+1 for the sinus squeeze. If he has been able to equalize before, that might mean something transient, like congestion from a cold. Chronic problems like that are sometimes caused by polyps (inflammatory tissue) in the sinuses, which might require a CT scan for diagnosis.

PM me if you want a local referral for an ENT doc in your area...

 

[fire_diver]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I can't believe I left out cruial info... yes, he had a major allergy attack from a dust storm the day before. Nasal drainage constantly for hours, but he cleared up that evening and was good the morning of the dive. He has also made 20 previous dives this year without any pain at all.

I knew there were a lot of sinus cavaties, but I didn't realize any were behind the orbital socket (other than the one across the brow).

Just glad to know that it is likely something so simple. If it persists we'll get him to see a specialist, but hopefully we can squeeze in a few more dives before the season closes for the winter.

 

[TSandM]

The frontal sinuses are right above the eyes, and the ethmoid sinuses are inferior to them; the maxillary sinuses are just below the eyes and extend almost to the back of the eye socket. Pain from any of those might be felt in or around the eye.





The space labeled 2 is the frontal sinus, and you can see it is between the eye sockets.