Eye Burning/Pain at 9-15ft down

[LadyCompassion]

Yesterday, I experienced some eye burning/stinging/severe pain when I was diving in the ocean with my buddy. We initially descended to 60 feet down. We dove for about 50 minutes, gradually ascending as we viewed the coral reef along the island wall. About 40 minutes into the dive, when we were about 15 feet down, both of my eyes started stinging tremendously, as if from some intraocular pressure. When I went higher or lower (e.g. 12 feet or 20 feet), it went away. I kept equalizing my mask and ears during our ascents and descents. It hurt worse when I looked down when my eyes were burning/stinging and the pain decreased when I looked straight forward and/or closed my eyes, but it didn’t go away until I changed my depth (as far as I recall). I had not been diving in the past 48 hours.

On Tuesday (two days prior), I was doing some pool diving skills. We did some shallow area skills (no problem) and when I went down to the bottom of the freshwater pool at 8 feet down, at the bottom my eyes felt the same way, like they were burning/stinging. I had also equalized my mask and ears and the pain didn’t go away until about 5 minutes later. I had never felt this before.

It definitely feels like something is wrong and I definitely don’t want to blind myself by diving, but I love diving and I’m trying to figure this out. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Why does it only seem to affect me at a certain depth? I did not experience any vision loss or distortion.
I had PRK “laser eye” surgery on December 30^th, 2010 and have not had any problems with it until now. I had not been diving since before the surgery.

Thanks. Natalie

I found this website but I do not understand which, if any, of the problems I have. Fitness to Dive: Eye

[mselenaous]

Here is some more info from DAN's website:

Ophthalmology (Eyes)

Radial Keratotomy
Subconjunctival Hemorrhage
Diving with Glaucoma
Eye Conditions That Will Keep You Out of the Water
Ocular Decompression Sickness
Loss of Sight After HBO Treatment
Diving with Contacts
Photorefractive Keratectomy
Blurred Vision
Detached Retina and DivingDAN discusses eye surgery for divers.
Macular DegenerationDAN discusses diving with this leading cause of blindness.
Diving After Lasik Surgery

Lens Implants and Diving

Seek medical advise promptly. You can also call DAN (contact # & website are at the top of this forum), who can refer you to dive medicine knowledgeable ophthalmologist in your local area.

Hopefully one of our Medical Moderators can give you a more specific answer.

[TSandM]

Are you using defog?

There are no air spaces inside or around the eye to cause pain with pressure changes. Failure to equalize one's mask can result in some discomfort, or even subconjunctival hemorrhages, but not the kind of pain you are describing. However, a stinging sensation in the eyes is definitely associated with chemical irritation, and this can occur with sunscreen or bug spray, or with commercial defog solutions. (I did a dive once where a very experienced diver was virtually incapacitated, when he rolled over on his back to look at something, and the new defog he was using got in his eyes. The pain was so great he could not open them, and we had to guide him back to shore.) Since you describe this happening in a pool, I would doubt it was bug spray, but sunscreen and defog would still be candidates.

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Concur with TSandM in that mask defog may be a culprit if you're using it. You should have long since recovered from your PRK surgery, but the fact that you felt pain with pressure changes is concerning. It would be worth a visit to your ocular surgeon to see if you've had any complications from the surgery or if you have any other eye pathology.

[LadyCompassion]

Thanks for your prompt replies. I really appreciate the advice.

I was using good old spit as my defogger, so it wasn't a chemical reaction.

I was using sunscreen but I didn't have any sunscreen on at the pool when I felt the similar sensation.

I guess I will see if it recurs when I dive next week. I didn't understand why it affected me at a particular depth and alleviated instantly when I went up or down. I didn't have any problems in the beginning of the dive when I was 60 feet down with my buddy.

Aside: The Whale Sharks are beautiful here in Djibouti!

[DandyDon]

I had a burning eye problem with a new, stronger defog once, but this doesn't sound like that...

We initially descended to 60 feet down. We dove for about 50 minutes, gradually ascending as we viewed the coral reef along the island wall. About 40 minutes into the dive, when we were about 15 feet down, both of my eyes started stinging tremendously, as if from some intraocular pressure. When I went higher or lower (e.g. 12 feet or 20 feet), it went away. I kept equalizing my mask and ears during our ascents and descents. It hurt worse when I looked down when my eyes were burning/stinging and the pain decreased when I looked straight forward and/or closed my eyes, but it didn’t go away until I changed my depth (as far as I recall).

And now you say you didn't use defog! Maybe you should postpone diving until you get this checked out by a doctor.

[Lee Taylor]

Change masks.

[DandyDon]

Change masks.

What would that have to do with pain changing at depth on ascent? Nothing more than the nonexistent defog?

If it was the mask, shouldn't she clean it well - or do you have another idea...?