My son (14yrs) and I were on a shallow dive ranging from 20-35ft this weekend on the Niagara river. While at 20ft he signaled that he wanted to surface due to an issue with his jaw. When we surfaced, he had extreme head pain. Once onshore, the head pain continued and nausea began. No other symptoms presented. 24hrs later, the head pain was not as sharp, but the vomiting continued. We took him to the ER and found what we suspected, barotrauma to his sinus. No problem with the ears.

My suspicion is that he ascent may have been fast enough that his breathing did not allow enough time to equalize the air expansion in his sinus. He was not congested during the dive, could a reverse block have played a role? Any other thoughts?

I'd like to get to the root of the most likely cause so that I can work with him to be sure that this never happens again. I only hope that the injury trauma does not sour him on diving.

Thanks!

Dave