Nose bleed while diving

[lespaulsf]

Hi

I'm a new diver. This past weekend I did my first two dives out of OW class! It was really amazing. Although each when each dive ended I took of my mask and several of my dive buddies said I had a "squid" or bloody nose. Although I spit up mucus/blood and wiped my face of and was fine. Not for sure why this happened it didn't in my OW certification so not for sure. The second dive I had a little trouble equalizing but this was most likely because I forgot to pre equalize before descending.

Why did my nose bleed and or why did i spit up a little blood?

 

[kat.hayes]

I too just did my first OW dive and had this problem -- I was just going to post a question about it. I was told by some people that I did not properly equalize when doing my free dives. I was coughing up lots of blood underwater and immediately after my dive. I am still coughing up small amounts of blood and I feel like I still have fluids in my ear (the dive was on Saturday). I scheduled an appointment with an ears, nose and throat person for tomorrow. I am most curious as to what is actually going on that is causing blood to be produced after not equalizing.

 

[dkktsunami]

Nose bleeds are fairly common with new divers and are most likely due to improper/incomplete equalization and descending too fast. Descend slowly, equalize often, even continually. Eventually equalizing becomes automatic and probably will not necessitate holding nose.

 

[Pearldiver07]

It can also be from irritating the sinus membranes.

The difference between pink in the drainage and flowing blood can be two entirely different things. As said above, many new divers have some small amounts of blood in their nasal drainage or mask by the time they finish a dive. But IMHO anytime you have red, flowing blood, it is not time to take it lightly.

If you can find an ENT that is also a diver you probably will get a pretty good first solution. I was lucky, my doctor certified through the shop I was with. Some doctors don't really understand the environment and the factors resulting from diving, and make erroneous conclusions.

DAN could also help your doctor in this case.

 

[lespaulsf]

This is odd because I didn't have this problem when I was doing my certification. I didn't have much blood but enough that I knew I was doing something wrong. Why does equalizing have to be so difficult to learn?

 

[scubadude79]

I too just did my first OW dive and had this problem -- I was just going to post a question about it. I was told by some people that I did not properly equalize when doing my free dives. I was coughing up lots of blood underwater and immediately after my dive. I am still coughing up small amounts of blood and I feel like I still have fluids in my ear (the dive was on Saturday). I scheduled an appointment with an ears, nose and throat person for tomorrow. I am most curious as to what is actually going on that is causing blood to be produced after not equalizing.

First of all, discontinue diving and go see a doctor IMMEDIATELY. :shocked2:
If you were coughing up lots of blood as you stated, I hope you aborted the dive and did not continue.

Ummm, I am not a doctor and not trying to be one; but if you are still coughing up blood you definitely need to go see one. Call DAN too since the service is there. You may be having a more serious problem that you should NOT take lightly.

 

[jswantek]

I just had the same problem this past Saturday. I'm an experienced diver, but sometimes do have a bit of difficulty equalizing. After our first dive, my buddy noticed that I had a little bit of blood running across my face when I took my mask off. As we weren't exactly sure of what happened, we took the prudent step of calling off the rest of the dives. Still had a good day, hanging out and shooting the B.S.

As the day went on, I noticed that my sinuses were feeling blocked. By Sunday morning I realized that I had a cold, and my sinuses were blocked because of that. That wasn't allowing me to equalize properly and I ended up with a slight nosebleed. So, after a few days of recovery, I should be back to normal.

I learned two things, it's good to have an observant buddy and never be afraid to call off a dive.

 

[Cave Bum]

Hi

I'm a new diver. This past weekend I did my first two dives out of OW class! It was really amazing. Although each when each dive ended I took of my mask and several of my dive buddies said I had a "squid" or bloody nose. Although I spit up mucus/blood and wiped my face of and was fine. Not for sure why this happened it didn't in my OW certification so not for sure. The second dive I had a little trouble equalizing but this was most likely because I forgot to pre equalize before descending.

Why did my nose bleed and or why did i spit up a little blood?

Usually, as stated above, a little blood in your masks is an indication of a 'squeeze', failing to equallize completely during decent.

I too just did my first OW dive and had this problem -- I was just going to post a question about it. I was told by some people that I did not properly equalize when doing my free dives. I was coughing up lots of blood underwater and immediately after my dive. I am still coughing up small amounts of blood and I feel like I still have fluids in my ear (the dive was on Saturday). I scheduled an appointment with an ears, nose and throat person for tomorrow. I am most curious as to what is actually going on that is causing blood to be produced after not equalizing.

This sounds more serious. I think you should call Divers Alert Network (DAN) at 1-800-446-2671 (toll-free). It's free and that's what they are there for, to give medical advise to divers as a public service. It never hurts to call and there's no obligation.

Be safe! Give 'em a call. Bruce

 

[Teamcasa]

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[odinsfrigg]

I'm not glad to hear you guys and gals had this issue, but I am glad to hear that it is very common.
Me and my wife are new to scuba, and on our last dive she turned to me just before our second dive with a mask full of blood, it was our first time with this issue, but she was checked out, and was told that this type of thing happens, not to worry.