Vertigo

[Rich Keller]

Another thing you might try is looking at your compass. Get the compass face level and use that as a reference.

 

[pixelpixie]

Thanks for sharing that. My problem was not on ascent and in thinking about the minutes proceeding, there was a lot of head movement- I was scanning for my buddy (who typically liked to be deeper and further back), and the third buddy of the dive, who was taking compass readings and turning different directions about 20' ahead of me. I'm sorry you experience this but am grateful for a lot of very good suggestions. I think the hardest part was tapping down the panic. I had signaled I was in distress and wanted to surface and realize now that having a buddy looking at me gave me the visual reference to stabilize my direction and control ascent. Thank you again, I am certainly not looking forward to experiencing vertigo again but if I do, you've provided some good tools and analysis that will help greatly. My thx to Jax too for messaging you about it!

 

[Jax]

This will mean a lot of communications to your buddy - when you signal distress, let him know to get in front of you, so you can orient on him and his bubbles. This is where a good dive buddy is do BOM!!!

Good luck!!!

 

[knotical]

If this occurred during an ascent, it may be alternobaric vertigo. This is where the two ears equalize at different rates, creating a pressure differential that causes different signals regarding orientation to come from the two different ears. Since there is no way to force equalization on ascent, the only thing you can do is cope with the results.

A couple of thoughts:

While there is no way to force it, there are ways to equalize during ascent (swallow, yawn, jaw thrust etc.) Descending a bit while equalizing would seem to be another way to manage the issue.

Although alternobaric vertigo is almost always during ascent it can occur during descent.

edit: well, .. there might be a way to force equalization during ascent by pinchin' and suckin' but ...

In general, I'm in favor of passive techniques, whether ascending or descending.

 

[pixelpixie]

@Jax- absolutely and thanks again!
@knotical- my problem is not on ascent, but hopefully your post will help others who do have that difficulty

 

[Madacub]

Hi pixelpixie, I used to have that problem too. You could see this thread for some additional info, specifically the issue of caloric reflex.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/diving-medicine/320438-dizzyness.html#post5048321

Luckily, this has become a non issue for me. You should definitely pay attention to this. In all my cases, I continued the dive. But you did the right thing - if you think you are going beyond your comfort level, terminate the dive safely. (Don't know about surfacing and then going back down, though!)

 

[pixelpixie]

ty, I'll check your link. I really thought I had recovered when I surfaced but then, I should have realized how my MO is to always push the envelope. Fortunately, it was just Dutch and I had a very reliable buddy to whom I'm very grateful.