Procedure for vomiting

[danvolker]

Bill, the irrigating does not get the saline rinse inside the middle ear.....what it does is shrink inflammation in the sinuses, and the sinuses often are pushing on nerves related to the inner ear and nausea/motion issues,etc

 

[Hockeynut]

It's amazing how blowing chunks in a regulator can get this many responses.


I remember this guy in the army use to like blowing chunks.

 

[uncfnp]

I should correct something I said -- I thought that the term "inner ear" was a misnomer. I checked it and those organs are actually part of the inner ear. Sorry about that. Someone who knows anatomy maybe could tell us if there is a physical way for irrigation of the nose to get into the inner ear area where the balance organs are.

Thanks,

Bill

Bill,

Essentially you are correct. There are three separate areas of each ear, the outer ear that is the ear canal that ends at the ear drum. This is where swimmers ear occurs. Then there is the middle ear. This is where the three bones that transmit sound from the eardrum to the cochlea (organ of hearing) are found. This is the " middle ear" and the site of most of what we think of as ear infections and barotrauma occur. The pressure in this area is equalized through the eustachion tube. The eustachian tube opens into the nasopharynx. When divers close off their nose and blow, they are blowing air through the ET into the middle ear. The third area is the " inner ear" and contains the cochlea for hearing and the vestibular system that is for balance. This is where you find the semicircular canals. The inner ear is indeed a closed system.

Nasal irrigation is considered by many the "gold standard" for maintaining a heathy sinus system. It serves to mechanically wash away pollen, microbes and other irritants as well as moisturizer the nasal mucosa. I do not see a pathophysically logical reason it would reduce motion sickness. If the motion sickness is being caused by sinus inflammation then it would reason that it would be occurring without the need for the " motion." Could sinus inflammation predispose you to motion sickness? I am not aware of any research on this. Certainly vertigo or labyrinthitis (not true motion sickness) can be associated with allergies, sinus and ear infections.

Lisa

Disclaimer, this is certainly not my area of expertise and I am the first to admit that there is a lot that traditional medicine does not know.

 

[FairPortDiver]

My issue had nothing to do with seasickness. It had more to do with my last meal, and hitting 60 ft. Happened to me in Cozumel, MX last week during a two tank dive. Luckily, training and education prevailed. When this happens, there is usually a brief warning. That is when you tell yourself not to panic, especially at depth. Hold your mouthpiece in place and vomit through the T exhaust. Purge the regulator. Absolutely do not remove the regulator before vomiting. I felt better for the rest of this dive, but did not complete the second tank dive. I stayed on the boat, again recalling my training. If you do not feel well, stomach ache, headache, etc, don't go in! I had eaten a substantial and greasy meal before the dive, along with a glass of OJ. Never again! Lesson learned, before diving, a light meal, no acidic food or drink, and something soft that will clear the regulator if vomiting occurs. From reading other posts, it appears that seasickness may have little to do with nausea while diving.

 

[18diver18]

switch to alternative, purge reg as you puke. If you get dizzy like i do call the dive, and also remember to drink plenty as you can become dehydrated.

 

[MrSam]

My instructor emphasized two things about regs:
1. Never take it out of your mouth. Unless it is a situation that requires reg removal, based on the PADI guide
2. Anything you can do on land, you can do through your reg. Breathe, spit, throw-up, etc.

It's a bit more comfortable to throw up on the surface/boat if possible, but if she gets the urge there is no need to end a dive because of it. Just keep an eye out and signal to see if she's okay or not. I saw tons of new divers vomit while in the water, everyone was fine afterwards.

 

[Searcaigh]

My issue had nothing to do with seasickness. It had more to do with my last meal, and hitting 60 ft. Happened to me in Cozumel, MX last week during a two tank dive. Luckily, training and education prevailed. When this happens, there is usually a brief warning. That is when you tell yourself not to panic, especially at depth. Hold your mouthpiece in place and vomit through the T exhaust. Purge the regulator. Absolutely do not remove the regulator before vomiting. I felt better for the rest of this dive, but did not complete the second tank dive. I stayed on the boat, again recalling my training. If you do not feel well, stomach ache, headache, etc, don't go in! I had eaten a substantial and greasy meal before the dive, along with a glass of OJ. Never again! Lesson learned, before diving, a light meal, no acidic food or drink, and something soft that will clear the regulator if vomiting occurs. From reading other posts, it appears that seasickness may have little to do with nausea while diving.

I have heard that Mexican food can do this

Crikey, a bad Indian curry and you could be chucking up and performing the Warhammer maneuver simultaneously and I believe PADI India have introduced this a new speciality (this is a joke and in no way represents any personal derogatory feeling towards the inhabitants of the Indian sub continent or their cuisine - I eat a lot of Indian curries)

 

[fjpatrum]

Definitely puke through the reg. It doesn't taste so good the next day if you don't get a good solid rinse though. It works on the surface or under the water and I recommend keeping the reg in your mouth at the surface too. Way better than taking a lung-full of water when you think you're going to get air. Spluttering around on the surface also causes a lot of people to go into "panic response" mode so it will help prevent other people from freaking out if you are on the surface puking. They'll know (maybe) you're just puking and not drowning.

 

[danvolker]

I just heard that you can't buy Triptone anymore!!! This is not something I am happy about, since I have had a "system" for diving on rough days for a decade now, and all of a sudden I will have to start again from scratch!!! I just used my last Triptone pill Sunday.....

 

[brrrandi]

I wanted to report out on my recent use of promethazine. It's a first gen antihistamine and worked pretty well for me all by itself, even though I was prescribed a mild upper to use with it (to counteract promethazine's sedative qualities). I'm sensitive to uppers so I didn't use that part of the cocktail. But based on the reports of others who have used the whole cocktail (prometh PLUS the upper), I recommend folks discuss with their doctors possibly trying this.

Effectiveness: The promethazine was more effective for me than the scop patch and bonine (meclizine). It was equally as effective as dramamine (original).
Sedative qualities: The promethazine was equally as sedating as dramamine but less so than scop and bonine (meclizine).
Other side effects: The promethazine lacked the dry mouth and horrible dizziness I had with the scop patch. Other than feeling slightly sleepy, I was able to work just fine.

For my money, if you're going to get a prescription anyway, presumably because otc options don't work, go ahead and try the promethazine and upper cocktail. However, before you discount dramamine as not working, be sure you've tried the original instead of the less drowsy (which is meclizine, exactly the same thing as bonine).