Periorbital Emphysema - Safe To Fly?

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Kryswyx

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Location
London, UK
# of dives
50 - 99
Hello all,

During the early ascent from a 30m dive on Saturday, I experienced pain around my eye socket. I descended a couple of metres and the pain went away. I then ascended really slowly and didn't notice any further pain. However when I took off my mask on the surface, I found that my lower eyelid was swollen with an air pocket - see photo. The case appears to be very similar to this: Periorbital emphysema after a wet chamber dive

The dive centre asked me to go to the hyperbaric unit of the local hospital just in case, and they confirmed that I was showing no signs of DCS. They have asked me to come back and see an opthalmologist on Monday morning.

This morning (Sunday) the air pocket had moved to my upper eyelid and I could also feel mild discomfort in my ear and "jaw hinge" (technical term). The swelling has partially subsided over the course of today, but not completely.

My sister is a maxillofacial surgeon and diagnosed periorbital emphysema. Ideally I'd not fly until the swelling has completely subsided (plus a safety margin) but I'm booked to fly on Monday evening.

Question to the board: if the swelling has completely, or nearly completely, subsided by Monday evening, am I safe to fly? I don't want the air pocket expanding in flight, or any air trapped behind the eyeball expanding and putting pressure on the eyeball and optic nerve.
 

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What did the doctor say? Anything we recommend is something we’re making up without any expertise or experience or qualification.
 
Doctor said no more diving (for a while if not ever).

Will have to see what the opthalmologist says tomorrow. But if they shrug, I'm trying to find other thoughts.
 
Hello all,

During the early ascent from a 30m dive on Saturday, I experienced pain around my eye socket. I descended a couple of metres and the pain went away. I then ascended really slowly and didn't notice any further pain. However when I took off my mask on the surface, I found that my lower eyelid was swollen with an air pocket - see photo. The case appears to be very similar to this: Periorbital emphysema after a wet chamber dive

The dive centre asked me to go to the hyperbaric unit of the local hospital just in case, and they confirmed that I was showing no signs of DCS. They have asked me to come back and see an opthalmologist on Monday morning.

This morning (Sunday) the air pocket had moved to my upper eyelid and I could also feel mild discomfort in my ear and "jaw hinge" (technical term). The swelling has partially subsided over the course of today, but not completely.

My sister is a maxillofacial surgeon and diagnosed periorbital emphysema. Ideally I'd not fly until the swelling has completely subsided (plus a safety margin) but I'm booked to fly on Monday evening.

Question to the board: if the swelling has completely, or nearly completely, subsided by Monday evening, am I safe to fly? I don't want the air pocket expanding in flight, or any air trapped behind the eyeball expanding and putting pressure on the eyeball and optic nerve.

Did they do any imaging? X-ray or CT?

Best regards,
DDM
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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