Sinus squeeze

[meisburger]

In my seven years of diving I have occasionally had some difficulty clearing my ears, but not much since I quit diving with people in a hurry to get down. Now I take my time and clear often and dont decend until my ears clear,which sometimes takes a few minutes.

Anyway, thats not my problem. Beginning about six months ago, I have several times experienced an incredibly painful sinus squeeze as I decend. The first time I eventually got down, clearing my sinus with blood I guess, which flowed relatively freely on ascent. For the rest of that trip moderate pressure would re-open the wound, and on surfacing I would get a little blood in my mask. Since then I have been more patient, and on my last dive (last weekend) hung around at 3.5 meters for about six minutes waitin gfor my sinus to equalize. I eventually got down, but again experienced some discomfort from reverse squeeze while ascending. On later dives that day my sinus cleared a bit easier, and I took my time coming up as well as going down.

For the relatively shallow reef diving I am doing this is not an insurmountable problem, but obviously something is wrong. I had problems breathing though my nose due to allergies and visited a doctor last spring who started me on a nasal spray shortly before this problem began, so I suspect it may be part of the problem. I also seem to have pretty much lost my sense of smell. Anyway, I am going to the US for the holidays and thought I would visit a docter to try to figure this out. My question is should I just find an ENT, or is there such a thing as a sinus specialist? Should I tyr to find one specializing in diving, and would that even be possible in a place like Tucson.

I would appreciate any advice. Tim

[jbd]

My question is should I just find an ENT, or is there such a thing as a sinus specialist? Should I tyr to find one specializing in diving, and would that even be possible in a place like Tucson.

I would appreciate any advice. Tim

I'm not aware of there being sinus specialists. An ENT should be able to help you in solving this. Even an ENT that doesn't dive will have access to medical literature related to diving. Good luck and I hope you find a solution.

[rmediver2002]

See an ENT, I have several diver friends that develop nasal polyps and had difficulty clearing thier sinuses. An outpatient procedure ( from reports painful though...) sovled the problem.

Perhaps it is a simple physiological issue.

Hope it gets cleared up!

Jeff

[Laurence Stein DDS]

For the relatively shallow reef diving I am doing this is not an insurmountable problem, but obviously something is wrong. I had problems breathing though my nose due to allergies and visited a doctor last spring who started me on a nasal spray shortly before this problem began, so I suspect it may be part of the problem. I also seem to have pretty much lost my sense of smell. Anyway, I am going to the US for the holidays and thought I would visit a docter to try to figure this out. My question is should I just find an ENT, or is there such a thing as a sinus specialist? Should I tyr to find one specializing in diving, and would that even be possible in a place like Tucson.

I would appreciate any advice. Tim

Meisburger,

In the for what it's worth department...certain nasal sprays, i.e., steroid spays like Beconase or Flonase have, as a side effect, the possibility of nose bleeds. I don't know what you are using but that could be part of the problem.

Certainly, see an ENT as already recommended.

Finally, the shallow dives are most certainly a problem. You have the greatest percent change in pressure in the first 30 feet (10 meters). That also means that your ability (or inability) to clear effectively is most important in the shallow water.

Good luck

Laurence Stein