Headache after/during Diving

[bconger2]

I have had this problem for two days and was hopeing somebody who has had more experiance could help. I seached SB and the net all night regarding similar problems, but I can't find a situation which fits what has happened.

I am a new diver, got certified more than a year ago and have logged 31 dives. I was diving with my g/f while she was getting cert. It was about 10 minutes into the dive and around 20ft when my I got a bad headache. It seemed to get worse as I decended, and better as I accended. I kept above 20ft for the rest of the dive not to inturrupt the class. I would like to point out that a little after my headache started I realized my mask was exceptionally tight, as in I wasn't letting enough air into it. After about 15 more minutes of diving we were done for the day.

It has been a day and a half now and I still have this headache!! It is about 6/10 pain wise. I checked my log and I used less air than I usually do. Mabye something to do with Carbon Dioxide?? I don't have problems equalizing at all and I did not feel congested that day. Sorry for the long read but I wanted to get all the details. Thanks for any help anyone can provide.
Bob

[Packhorse]

Im not a doctor but I have played doctors and nurses before.

Could be CO2. I found when I unintentionaly skip breath I get a head ache. Your mask should be loose but not loose enough to fall off. Too tight and it could cause a headache.
Dehydration could also be a cause.
Or it could be sea worms or lice that have crawled in thru your ears and are slowly borowing into your brain. I recon that could give you a head ache.

If it continues go see a real doctor.

[TSandM]

CO2 retention is a common cause of diving-related headache, and is often associated with "skip breathing", or intermittent breath-holding in an attempt to extend one's gas supply. However, a CO2 headache should not persist for days after a dive.

Sinus issues, and sinus squeeze, can produce headache, and that headache can be persistent. If you have allergy-type symptoms (sneeze, runny nose, sinus congestion) at baseline, this would be high on the differential diagnosis.

A severe and unusual headache should be evaluated by a physician. There are headache causes which are not diving-related but can be serious, and coincidences do happen.

What it boils down to is what I must so often write, which is that it is not possible to evalute and diagnose anybody over the internet. Signficant symptoms, particularly if persistent, should be evaluated by a local physician who can perform an adequate physical examination and any pertinent laboratory or imaging tests.

[Jake]

I'm not sure how depth might be related, but I wonder if it's possible that you got a contaminated breathing mix. I have no idea whether this is related to persistent headaches, but I suppose it's worth throwing out there.

As TSandM said, go see a flesh and blood physician, and do it without delay. There could be any number of things going on. You might also consider placing a free call to DAN, although I suspect they won't have enough information to make a dive diagnosis and will probably recommend an immediate GP or dive specialist visit anyhow.

Good luck.

[Gary D.]

If you can't find someone who stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night go see your MD. Trying to second guess a problem is not a good thing.

Did your GF get her air at the same station at the same time?

Gary D.

[spectrum]

I would like to point out that a little after my headache started I realized my mask was exceptionally tight, as in I wasn't letting enough air into it.

Okay, so did you exhale trough your nose to equalize your mask?

That imbablance can set up some disturbing pressure imbabalances. How did your eyes look after the dive?

Pete

[moneysavr]

Could be several factors but next to sinus I would think its related to your breathing underwater and C02 build up,Try a dive using nitrox after you get the certs and I am sure you will then feel fine,and don't forget to drink water to stay hydrated.
As said I am no doctor but have had this happen early in my diving life and if it keeps up see a doc.
Hope all is well.
Dive safe,
Brad

[bubblemonkey]

the first thing I thought was dehydration.

[bconger2]

Thanks a lot for the info. I think that the headache is getting better, (I just slept 8+ hours,) plus I drank a lot of water last night. I did use air from a different source than anyone else. I did equalize the mask after I realized it was too tight. Thanks again,
Bob

[DangerMike]

Sinus squeeze would be my guess. I had it happen at the local quarry, wasnt equalizing properly, so the deeper I went, the more it squeezed. I ended up just ascending until the pressure went away and then descending very slowly while equalizing the entire time.