spitting blood

[Dive Ranger]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask this question, but here it goes.
On just about every dive I make, I notice either with my self or another diver that after being in the water there is mucus or snot leaking from the nose, I guess this is normal for swimming and diving. That being said, I have noticed with myself, and trying not to be gross, this sinus mucus build up happens to me, and with a deep nasal sniff, then expelling it by spitting. On the last few dives I've made, avg depth 40-60 ft, I have blood in the stuff I'm spitting out, not alot, and no blood running out of the nose, just enough blood to be seen in the junk being spit out. I'm assuming this is a mild bloody nose and nothing serious. Anyone have any insight to share?

Thanks
Dennis

 

[smellzlikefish]

At one end of the scale, bloody sputum is a classic symptom of a burst lung from holding your breath on ascent. I think the blood from these incidents is usually described as frothy. This could lead to the worst kind of dive-related medical issue, arterial gas embolism.

OTOH, my first few real free-diving trips I came back with a bloody nose as a result of blockages in the sinus cavities. Sinuses have a lot of little capillaries that are easily damages if you experience a squeeze. It only happened a couple of times and the squeezes and bloody noses went away on their own. I still get a lot of mucus in my mask, though.

 

[dvankirk]

It could be nothing, but I think that it would be best to have it checked out. I had similar symptoms after my first couple of dives. I contacted DAN who referred me to a local ENT. Long story short, she found that my sinuses had some polyps that needed to be removed. All better now. Had I not it checked out, though, it could have caused major problems.

 

[xspect]

I also have a history of polyps and was spitting out blood on my first couple of dives. I had the surgery and they grew back even bigger (thats another story).

I found the following helped me. Take non drying sinus meds when diving. lavage/irrigate my sinuses on a regular basis to keep the gunk out.

In other words keep the sinuses open. if they are block or dry, the air (from pressure) is going to be forced out and hence the bleeding.

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Water that enters your ears seeps into your sinuses. That is why you get a good clearing after most dives, bloody or not, even when no water enters your mask. Salt water and dry sinuses / mucous membranes in nose, can be a cause of that.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Water that enters your ears seeps into your sinuses.

Does this happen to you? If so, it's not supposed to. The external ear canal is not connected to the sinuses in any way.

 

[jar546]

Water that enters your ears seeps into your sinuses. That is why you get a good clearing after most dives, bloody or not, even when no water enters your mask. Salt water and dry sinuses / mucous membranes in nose, can be a cause of that.

Uhhh NO

 

[TSandM]

Water that enters your ears seeps into your sinuses. That is why you get a good clearing after most dives, bloody or not, even when no water enters your mask. Salt water and dry sinuses / mucous membranes in nose, can be a cause of that.

In fact, the eardrum forms a seal that prevents water that enters your ears from going anywhere except the external auditory canal. The expulsion of mucus from the nose after diving is due to the expansion of gas in the sinuses, and has nothing to do with water.

Most bleeding from the nose after diving is due to trauma to the lining of the nose or sinuses, either through barotrauma (insufficient equalization) or through overly aggressive attempts to equalize. As has already been noted by multiple posters, anatomic abnormalities of the nose or sinuses can contribute to someone having frequent bleeding, and if the problem is recurrent, it probably deserves a good examination by an ENT doc.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

Water that enters your ears seeps into your sinuses.

If I pinch my nose closed and keep my mouth closed, I can breathe through my ears. Can't everyone do that?

I'm working on installing gills over my ears.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

This 'sinus flush' effect happens to me pretty much every dive. There is blood involved with some regularity on deeper (80-100+') dives, though if I've been gentle on the equalizing it either is much less bloody or is free from blood. I am quite comfortable with breathing wet/having a partly flooded mask, so that may contribute.

However, at the risk of TMIing, what gets flushed out must be the oldest, nastiest gunk from the deepest reaches of my sinuses, because it is usually dark freaking orange. So orange it looks like an SMB. And that's without any blood. I must be a mutant.