Nose Bleeding after the dive?

[NightRaven77]

My buddy had a partially ruptured eardrum after his first checkout dive and had a bloody nose along with it a year ago.....

He seems to get a bloody nose when he dives.....when diving with him I noticed that it isnt when he decends but when we are going to the surface.......which I might ad is a very very slow acent rate.....I ask him if he is pinching his nose too hard to eqalize and he insists that he isnt....I am just concerned that he is hurting himself in some way and he doenst physically know it and or feel it.......

our dives were only about 40 ft...for 35-40 min.....
I have never seen this before...

is this a sinus problem? is it serious? what can he do to prevent it....he just seems fine after the dive...just seems weird!

thanks for any help!

 

[DocVikingo]

As this is a diving medicine question rather than directly related to the scientific aspects of decompression, I have taken the liberty of moving it to this forum. Dr. Deco will still see it.

You may wish to begin your study on the topic with this material from the board archives----> http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=14735&highlight=blood+nose

Hope this gets you started.

DocVikingo

 

[Big-t-2538]

But I still don't know how to react to it. One of my freind's wife got certified not long ago. It seemed to me that about 75% of the time, her nose would bleed or exude bloody snot on her way to the surface. It didn't correlate to depth, (her dive to 80 ft. during the advanced class training nothing happened) or anything else we could come up with. She has had no ill effects from it, didn't feel nautious or anything else. I am interested to find out what might be causing this also.

-TT

 

[SSIdiver02]

I have recently had the same problem on 1 of my many dives. I contacted DAN about it. They told me that it was a common problem due to ineffective equalization (having a cold, not paying attention etc.), which leads to barotrauma of the nose/sinuses, which can lead to the rupturing of the blood vessels in the nose....I.E. bleeding, due to the fact that your sinuses can suffer squeezes when you dont equalize properly. And it was true, i was diving with some well respected divers who made a much more rapid decent than i was used to, down to a wreck at 95ft. They use amethod where they can constantly clear their ears on the way down, so they can go down faster...which means longer bottom times. Well i havent mastered that technique yet, and a couple of my clears hurt (thankfully nothing serious happened) . The next weekend we went to the same wreck, and went at my own pace, cleared properly, and just met them on the bottom...never has happened since

The medical director of DAN recently wrote this article explaining it more in depth.

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/medical/faq/faq.asp?faqid=169

 

[rmediver2002]

Sometimes due to involuntary physiological restrictions such as nasal polyps or undersized Eustachian tubes even a small amount of mucus can cause enough of a blockage to cause a nasal squeeze. The reverse is also true, as some divers do not need to use the Valsalva maneuver to clear, it can be done through small movements of the jaw.

The squeeze can be caused on decent or could be an over-pressurization on accent and will cause blood or a blood and mucus mixture to be present in the mask upon surfacing.

See an ear, nose, and throat specialist and ensure this is not the case. Even if this is the cause with slow controlled changes in depth / pressure the problem can be resolved.

Ensure you remember to exhale into the mask as you descend to allow it to equalize as well.

Jeff Lane

 

[Curly]

I didn't notice it, but one of my buddies did. It was during our OW check out dives. After surfacing, he noted, "Hey, your nose is bleeding." Surprised, I wiped, and sure enough, there was a little blood.

During those initial dives, I did have some trouble with one ear -- it would not easily clear, and I had to take it slow. It did eventually clear, but would be "blocked" when I surfaced. In fact, after a full day of diving there (with no dive deeper than, say, ~60 feet), one ear (the same one that had trouble equalizing during descent) remained pretty much clogged for a few days -- gradually clearing up.

Since then, I've done plenty of dives with no trouble at all. I've been more conscious of the state of my nose & sinuses before diving, and have taken a half-dose of a non-drwsy decongestant to combat any possible blockage in that one problematic eustacean tube. Since then, no problems -- going down or coming up.

 

[sillygrendel]

It happened to me once and scared the 5#!T out of me!

Since then I have stopped using the valsalva manuver (hold your nose and blow). Now I do the "exhale and wiggle your jaw" method, and frequently... Haven't had any problems since!