Weird "dizzyness" while diving?

[tracydr]

I had a couple of vertigo episodes this summer. They can be very disconcerting. Mine started, I think, with a mild ear barotrauma. They were then triggered with moments of near zero visibility. Like TSandM, finding something to use as a visual reference has really helped me. Suspended particles, computer, buddy.

 

[WillyCham]

Sorry if I missed this in a later post, but does this happen during depth changes and/or after a valsalva maneuver?

I believe it tends to happen at the beginning of the ascent. I do shore dives so the ascent is fairly moderate back up the slope of the land. This last vertigo episode ouccured after being at 74ft depth and then slowly swimming back up the slope, and I think not long after heading back up is when it hit me. I can't recall if it happened directly after a valsalva maneuver..

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

I believe it tends to happen at the beginning of the ascent. I do shore dives so the ascent is fairly moderate back up the slope of the land. This last vertigo episode ouccured after being at 74ft depth and then slowly swimming back up the slope, and I think not long after heading back up is when it hit me. I can't recall if it happened directly after a valsalva maneuver..

Thanks. Most likely alternobaric vertigo like the others have suggested. It's benign but very disconcerting, as you've described. I think it's definitely worth getting checked out especially given that you still have some ear clogging.

 

[dytis-sm]

I was excited to find this thread because I experienced this feeling a couple of times in different diving scenarios and was concerned about the cause. The symptoms are identical: a little dizzyness, and feeling a bit lightheaded. Symptoms do not last long and my initial reaction was to change my depth up and down and get a feel of it as it appeared related to ears. That always seems to fix the problem. Reading to this thread and the symptoms of Alternobaric Vertigo it sounds exactly that.

My first occurrence was in warm water at around 40ft while diving in Lanai. Then at 70ft of cold water in Catalina. So conditions must be irrelevant. In both cases I was in the middle of my dive and there was no particular issues (seasickness, congestion, etc.). Both cases however where while diving off a boat, never had it on a beach dive. The explanation of Alternobaric Vertigo makes sense: improper or rather imbalanced equalization. I suppose nothing to worry about just something to be aware.

 

[BluewaterSail]

I get mild vertigo if I ascend too fast, even over just a few meters. Descending, the sensation of not clearing in the ears is obvious, and would slow me down. Acending, there are not such obvious hints. It usually happens at depth, such as in a case where I am near the bottom and someone signals to me to come up to the deck of a wreck. I am not thinking about ascent speeds, only to see whatever they are excited about. I have learned to control ascent speeds on even such a small 2-3 meter ascents at depth, and I seldom have these uncomfortable feelings any more.