These headaches are killing me !!

[Nishan]

i used to get similar headaches, and think that in my case, its due to sinus problems. i suffer from (at times severe) reverse blocks and have noticed its worse on deeper dives. probably as its a bit colder down there and my head tends to chill during the dive. i now use a hood even in warm water and have less issues and the headaches are also uncommon. i used to get headaches even when i didnt have a reverse block, but have a feeling that a mild but prolonged sinus sqeeze was probably the cause for both.
of course headaches can be due to a number of other reasons as pointed out by others on this forum.

 

[tomboyy]

Its not about trying to breathe more - its trying to breathe properly. That is slow, deep and fully.

I'm sorry if if you misunderstood what i meant about breathing "normally" underwater. To me breathing "normally" is slow and deep ( underwater )

Tom

 

[Thalassamania]

Stop skip breathing, some do it for air consumption, some for buoyancy control.

 

[realdiver7]

I had severe headaches when diving with a hood that was too tight. Got a larger one and the headaches disappeared. Common sources of headaches when diving include hood or mask being too tight, CO2 retention, sinus problems, and others previously mentioned in this thread.

Since your head and face have pressure points, it's understandable why a tight hood or mask could cause headaches. I even get headaches when my sunglasses hug the sides of my head too tight, pressing against certain nerves.

 

[don Francisco]

Jacobson and Joyfulnoise-

As I said earlier, headaches are a diagnostic nightmare. Take your time to review all possibilities, neither assuming nor rejecting anything. Ironicaly, even something like worrying about an impending headache can cause one.

Try to pin down the nature of your headaches; location, sharp vs dull pain, time of onset, do you ever get similar headaches when not diving, etc. and apply Occams Razor, analyzing and eliminating all possibilities from the simple tight mask strap, to TMJ and jaw muscle pain, tension, sinus, dehydration, and gas buildup, until you're left with a likely cause.

This isn't an area where magic bullets exist. It'll take time an patience on your parts, and sadly even if you locate the cause, you might not be able to eliminate it.

The good news is that unlike many chronic headache sufferers, you have a simple remedy to prevent your headaches, but let's rule that out as unacceptable for now. Good luck to you both.

 

[froeoeo]

When I first started diving headaches were common during and shortly after dives. When I was able to relax and let my stress go and my breathing take care of itself they went away. I say try to relax and see if they go away, if not find a ENT doctor who knows diving for help.

 

[String]

One sign is CO2 retention is quite often accompanied by nausea and its quite common for people to be sick as a result either just after the dive or a period following that.

 

[mikerault]

A couple of years ago, before I started diving, I used to get killer headaches. It seemed they always happened after I laid for a while on the couch. The couch arem had a ridge that ran across the back of my head just above the joint where the head joins the neck. Prolonged pressure against this area caused me to get migraines I stopped sleeping on the couch or used a pillow behind my head and the headaches dissappeared. That is, until I got a 7mm semidry with a attached hood. If I wore the hood so that the chin cover was over my chin it would cause nearly the identical headach as it pulled my chin back and caused pressure on the nerves in the jaw. Again, stopping the use of the hood (or rather moving the chin cover below the chin so it didn't pull back on the chin) solved it.

Mike

 

[deerhunter1911a1]

wow, this is great! i just recently started getting headaches (i have a wicked one right now) after diving. i just got home from several deep dives (100'-115') and had a small headache on the first one that went away, a medium headache on the second, that went away, and a WICKED headache on the third one that did NOT go away...though i don't skip breathe, im pretty sure the CO2 thing everybody mentioned is the cause, for ive got about 25 dives now and am working on prolonging my dives via breathing better (slow and deep) and do, at times, feel that craving for air. on top of it, i guess because of either my wetsuit, how i am, or whatever it is, keeping my head back to see ahead of me, im sure, tightens up my neck, which i know cannot help the headaches. thanks for the great comments, i hope they help! i guess breathing better will just come with time....thanks again

 

[stargazer61]

My symptoms of CO2 retention are a nasty headache just like a really really bad hangover. None of the usual painkillers work and it normally last for a few hours. I sometimes get nausea but not always. Fortunately I've never had this diving - I get it through snoring. I talked to two doctors about the problem. I got various theories such as migraine and took a couple of types of medication. Finally I found out what it was - right here on scubaboard!