Eye Hemorrhage

[Diver4242]

I went for my eye exam yesterday and the doc said I have a hemorrhage in my eye.

I don't have high blood pressure or sugar/diabetes. I'm 61 and pretty fit, not overweight, 5'10 185lbs and exercise. Not on any meds, no real health problems

I've done about a dozen fresh-water dives this summer/fall, the last one for my drysuit cert on Sept 30. Haven't gone below 65' depth in any of them. I did experience somewhat of a mask squeeze on a recent dive and also surfaced with some blood in my mask, which is unusual for me.

Could diving have caused the eye hemorrhage?

 

[Oitzu]

I did experience somewhat of a mask squeeze on a recent dive and also surfaced with some blood in my mask, which is unusual for me.

Could diving have caused the eye hemorrhage?

Sounds very likely.
Can't be a big hemorrhage if your doc saw it first?

 

[Khrissi]

Blood in yr mask ? Nosebleed maybe ? You haven't been taking aspirin? That does thin the blood. K

 

[uncfnp]

I am assuming the hemorrhage was seen when the inside the eye was examined?

Forceful sneezing, cough, vomiting, even rubbing can cause hemorrhages over the white part of the eye as can mask squeeze. Blood thinners increases the risk. This form of bleeding, if isolated, is harmless.

Bleeding inside the eye is different and more significant and beyond my scope. I can tell you that when I had an eye issue, virtuous detachment, I was not restricted from diving since the eye does not contain any air space so does not compress. So it would seem that the eye would be at no more risk from dive compression injury then any other organ of the body. One exception as noted with a subconjunctival hemorrhage above, is with a severe mask squeeze that more cause deeper injury to the eye as well.

This article is a bit dated but might have some useful info for you until DDM or an eye doc comes along.

High-Pressure Ophthalmology — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article

 

[Hoag]

Speaking from experience (hockey stick blade to the face - long story / poor judgement) when an eye bleeds, it doesn't normally bleed in such a way that the blood is external. Instead the blood will be visible inside the eye. You may not even notice it unless (until) you see it in a mirror, but others will see it. The "whites of your eye" will become quite literally blood red.

I am not a doctor, I am simply relating my experiences. I would think that it is unlikely that this would cause you to have blood in your mask and think that a nosebleed is a far more likely explanation for that.

Having said that, however, your eyesight is something that you should not put at risk. My recommendation is to have your eyes (both of them) thoroughly checked out by an ophthalmologist. Ask the doc if this is a minor setback, or if the hemorrhage will heal (and if so, what sort of a timeline should you expect).

 

[Sam Miller III]

Mask squeeze -- aka conjunctival hemorrhage

Very uncommon with modern masks and diving procedures
sdm

 

[uncfnp]

Speaking from experience (hockey stick blade to the face - long story / poor judgement) when an eye bleeds, it doesn't normally bleed in such a way that the blood is external. Instead the blood will be visible inside the eye. You may not even notice it unless (until) you see it in a mirror, but others will see it. The "whites of your eye" will become quite literally blood red.

Hi Hoag.

This is an example of a subconjunctival hemorrhage. While its true that this bleed is under the clear surface of the eye it is still external to the globe of the eye. A subconjunctival bleed is easily seen and looks frightening but its basically just a harmless rupture of the blood vessels on the white of the eye and as it resolves will often change colors just like a bruise on the skin. I have seen subconjunctival hemorrhages severe enough to actually tint the tears red but I seriously doubt that is what happened here.

The more serious “bleeds” occur with in the eye and except for rare cases can only be seen with a fundoscopic exam. I assume that is how this hemorrhage was found?

 

[divinh]

I've seen a diver with a mask squeeze. He didn't want to hold anyone back, so he continued to descend along the line without equalizing his mask (at least that's what he related). One eye had the whites completely red. It looked pretty bad. After a bit of reading afterward, it does seem like something that would clear up in a few months or less.

 

[Hoag]

Hi Hoag.

This is an example of a subconjunctival hemorrhage. While its true that this bleed is under the clear surface of the eye it is still external to the globe of the eye. A subconjunctival bleed is easily seen and looks frightening but its basically just a harmless rupture of the blood vessels on the white of the eye and as it resolves will often change colors just like a bruise on the skin. I have seen subconjunctival hemorrhages severe enough to actually tint the tears red but I seriously doubt that is what happened here.

The more serious “bleeds” occur with in the eye and except for rare cases can only be seen with a fundoscopic exam. I assume that is how this hemorrhage was found?

Thank you for clearing this up. It truly was scary to see. (Not helped by the fact that I was living at a remote radar station 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle at the time and my "medical care" was a nurse and phone calls to an ophthalmologist in Winnipeg.) In my case it did clear up on its own. For a few days, it looked as though the RCAF was going to send a jet up to medivac me out, but that wasn't needed.

 

[uncfnp]

Thank you for clearing this up. It truly was scary to see. (Not helped by the fact that I was living at a remote radar station 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle at the time and my "medical care" was a nurse and phone calls to an ophthalmologist in Winnipeg.) In my case it did clear up on its own. For a few days, it looked as though the RCAF was going to send a jet up to medivac me out, but that wasn't needed.

Easy enough to diagnose after the fact but I am sure at the time, given the injury, they were concerned about internal trauma to the eye as well. Glad to hear it turned out well and I bet there is an interesting story there too.