Nose Bleeds

[SeaSean]

Hi there,

New-ish to diving, and I have a recurring problem. I'm diving in Spain at the moment, every weekend pretty much. Thing is, since my first open water dive (I'm at a grand total of 16 now - woo-hoo) I have got a nose bleed - the only time it didn't hapen was on my deep dive for my advanced - 26 metres, no nose bleed. And it doesn't seem to matter if it's 30 mins, at 6 meters in 21ºC or 68 mins at 10m in 15ºC. Is it really just my capilliaries bursting due to the cold - cause 21 doesn't seem that cold...

Is there anything I can do to strengthen my capilliaries if that is the cause. It's not that it's scary or anything - it just makes equalizing a messy business and tastes horrible... but it does freak people out when they look across to see if you're okay and you have blood bubbling in your mask...

Or should I just make it a feature of diving with me...

S.

 

[DandyDon]

Or should I just make it a feature of diving with me....

Right-on! You'll be remembered. Be sure to smear it across your face some when you remove your mask on the boat. Works great with a bald forehead :lol2:

No, better see a nose doctor. Make sure your safe to dive. Thereafter, you'll get better at gentler equalizing, and your nose will learn to handle it better, too.

Good luck, have fun, always!​

 

[SeaSean]

Thereafter, you'll get better at gentler equalizing

Aye, there's the rub.... Gentler all round would probably help.

Thanks Don.

 

[SquattingRadishDM]

You might want to post this in the "Diving Medicine" forum as there will tend to be more qualified ppl in there. I've got no medical qualifications but had the same problem as you on a few dives early on when I started diving and have seen numerous new divers with the same thing. Its not uncommon however it might be good idea to speak to a doctor as it is happening on (virtually) every dive.

As Don said it is usually due to trying to equalise too hard. The greater the pressure difference between ur ears and the outside water pressure the harder it can be to equalise. Therefore decend slowly and equalise very regualarly. The first 10m is where the pressure changes the most (doubles from 1 atm to 2 atm) and you should concentrate on equalising as offen as possible during this time.

The deeper you get the slower the % change in pressure and the less often you will find you have to equalise. i.e. 0 to 10m = 1atm to 2 atm so a change of 100%, 30m to 40m = 4atm to 5atm so a change of 25%.

As your profile is not totally flat throughout a dive and you may have to raise up and decend a few feet to follow the bottom on the normal course of the dive. You may find you have to equalise throughout the dive due to the changes in pressure of these little up and downs. My point is that on a 6m dive these little changes in pressure are greater than at say 26m so therefore you are equalising more (and possibly harder) so that may explain why on ur deep dive you had no nose bleed.

Anyway bottom line, its quite common but see a doctor anyway and try to equalise gentler and more often, particularly during the first part of the decent.

Happy Diving

 

[DandyDon]

If you'll just run a Search on nose bleeds, you'll find your story over and over again.

 

[SeaSean]

Cheers guys,

Very informative. At least I know I'm not alone. Have made appointment with doctor, who treats all the other dive interns in our centre to talk to him about it and see what he thinks. I will keep trying to be more gentle with myself.

S. :1poke:

 

[Garyra]

Hi there,

Is there anything I can do to strengthen my capilliaries if that is the cause. It's not that it's scary or anything - it just makes equalizing a messy business and tastes horrible... but it does freak people out when they look across to see if you're okay and you have blood bubbling in your mask...

Or should I just make it a feature of diving with me...

S.

What you may be experiencing is actually a sinus squeeze. I know that the last time I went down, I had a little congestion and didn't even realize it. When I surfaced I noticed that there was blood comeing out my nose just a bit. Of course I ignored it and wound up with a major sinus headache after aobut the 4th dive of the day. If you have sinus congestion the air can't equilize properly when surfacing and causes a reverse squeeze. No matter what the problem is, I would recommend seeing a Dr. that is familiar with diving. If the problem is sinus congestion, they can give you meds to help. Just stay away from most of the OTC meds. Some of them can be problematic when diving.

 

[SeaSean]

What are OTC meds? Am I being thick?

 

[DandyDon]

What are OTC meds? Am I being thick?

Sorry about that. US members tend to dominate SB and use our common lingo, even while you metric members often convert F degrees into Celcius, etc.

OTC stands for Over The Counter drugs, which our FDA (Food & Drug Administration, I think) has decided are safe enough for consumers to buy without physician prescriptions and pharmacist dispensing.

Some will be prescription/script only, some OTC, some not available in US, and on to "controlled" in which our DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) gets interested. US regs tend to be tighter than other countries, with some script-only meds here being OTC in other countries, but I'm sure that varies.

Thanks for asking for the clarification. Since SB is an Internatinal community, we should all be more careful about our commumications, perhaps. :shades:

 

[SeaSean]

Aha. All clear. Thanks for that. All seems a moot point now, since I broke my nose on Satrday and now I'm not allowed to dive until it's better... humph.