Please Help

[Andrewkutches]

Over two days I went diving.

1st. Dive 40 feet/50 minutes
Next day
2nd Dive 83 feet/36 minutes
3rd Dive 50 feet/54 minutes

6 hours after last dive I get a sharp headache. Key part "six hours" after dive.

Get home and headache is very sharp and painful. Called DAN (Their assessment is sinus squeeze)

Instructors who I have spoken with expressed concern with this because of the six hour window from the issue. Meaning "sinus squeeze happens right in water or right after water, not six hours afterwards."

Followed DAN instruction to go to hospital if still having headache the next day.
Doctor has never treated a diver or a diver related injury. Did do a cat scan showing "zero damage to sinus area/zero injury to sinus area/zero inflammation to sinus area.

After leaving hospital called three hyperbaric chambers but it's too late in the day to see if the issue is truly "Sinus Squeeze" or if the issue is possible a worse issue due to the six hour after diving I started getting a headache that has lasted longer than 24 hours.

The headache is on the sides of my head and the front of my head. Very sharp headache.

Please help.

 

[dlofting]

I'm no expert but it appears you've looked into things by calling DAN and then having the CAT scan at the hospital. Did the doctor who looked at your scan have anything to say about the headache?

 

[Jack Hammer]

DAN is generally the best source. I'm going to ask the Mods to move it to dive medicine as their are medical professionals and hyperbaric Doctors who are active there.

@Duke Dive Medicine

 

[boulderjohn]

A squeeze can take a while to develop fully, after which it can become infected.

This past winter my beautiful granddaughter, a human petri dish, exposed me to a cold. I had a dive scheduled soon after, but I thought i was still OK to go. I had no trouble equalizing on the dive, although I could feel things starting to snot up. The next day, nearly 24 hours later, I awoke with that full-blown cold. More importantly, I had a barotrauma in my ear, something did that not manifest itself until then. That barotrauma took more than a month to clear up.

 

[boulderjohn]

Do you have any symptoms in addition to the headache?

 

[EireDiver606]

I genuinely hope it doesn’t get any worse for you.

 

[Andrewkutches]

I'm no expert but it appears you've looked into things by calling DAN and then having the CAT scan at the hospital. Did the doctor who looked at your scan have anything to say about the headache?

The Doctor said "honestly you being a certified rescue diver know more than I do. I learned about a hyperbaric chamber in medical school but that was 12 years ago. Never in my career have I treated a diver and I am going to have to discharge you now."

 

[tbone1004]

talk to DAN and ask if you can send the scan to them to evaluate. Calling around to the chambers isn't going to get you anywhere better than talking to them since they are essentially the authority on the subject and most chambers don't regularly treat divers. They end up relying on DAN in many instances themselves for stuff like this

 

[Andrewkutches]

Do you have any symptoms in addition to the headache?

My symptoms currently are just a headache going for day two. Not a common thing for me to get headaches at all.

 

[Jayfarmlaw]

Any bloody snot in your mask or difficulties equalizing? Early on, I had difficulties clearing on a dive and decided I would muscle through it instead of ascending slightly and clearing again. Blew hard, cleared my ears, and upon surfacing at more red and green in my mask than you want to hear about. I do not remember being congested prior to the dive either.

Finished another dive with no problems, massive headache later.

Good luck, Let us know if you get a diagnosis.

Jay