Headaches while diving

[Booyakasha]

I have a friend that I am looking to dive with that tells me he has had problems on his last 3 trips where midway through the dive he gets a terrible headache. Bad enought he has to thumb the dive. It is his entire head so I don't think it is a squeeze or ear problems. He has no problem equalizing and the dive profiles were normal warm water reef dives. In others words no up and down nothing over 60ft. Happened last 3 trips and the trip were spread out by months so I don't imagine it is a cold/allergy thing. He is in excellent physical shape.

Any thoughts?

B.

 

[g1138]

Could be CO2 retention or dehydration. He could be exerting himself too much as well.
Ask him these questions
- Does he take normal full breaths and exhales at a normal pace, as if he were on land? (No? CO2 retention is possible)
- Is he constantly swimming, finning, or flailing all the time? (yes? CO2 retention possible)
- Is he hydrated? As in clear and copious pee before a dive? (no? dehydrated; drink water or weak tea; little to no caffeine, coffee, or soda)

Another thing is that he could just get head colds. Has he tried diving with a hood?

 

[TSandM]

HERE's a pretty good article on diving headaches.

I would say probably the most common cause is some kind of CO2 retention, whether that's from inefficient breathing patterns, poorly adjusted equipment, or excessive exertion.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

One possibility is sinus barotrauma, although CO2 retention is high on the differential. Since g1138 and TSandM discussed the CO2 headache, I'll expand a little on sinus barotrauma...

As you know, even a little stuffiness or minor barotrauma can inflame the sinus membranes and impair equalization. It would be interesting to ask your friend a few more questions, e.g., specifically when did the headache occur (during descent/at depth/ascent/post-dive), what is the exact location of the pain (entire head isn't specific enough), what is the quality/character of the pain, does ascending/descending alleviate the pain to a certain extent, etc.

FYI, sinus barotrauma most often affects the frontal sinuses, but it can also involve the ethmoid or maxillary sinuses. If sinus barotrauma is the culprit, then your friend could do a couple of things to help avoid such headaches in the future. First, it would be important to descend slowly and avoid any significant down-up-down movement in the water column. Second, it might be helpful to try a long-acting decongestant. Allergy sufferers might find that a saline nasal rinse or regular dosing of an antihistamine can help.

If your friend is curious, he should see a dive-savvy ENT for a comprehensive evaluation. Divers Alert Network should be able to give him a referral. Your friend should expect to answer a lot of the above questions...and more.

 

[knowone]

Rebuild your valves at shorter intervals using minimal grease.

 

[Booyakasha]

Thanks for all the great information. The head aches usually occur about 15 - 20 min in to the dive. The pain is strongest at the top and back of his head so I don't think it is sinus related. This guy is in amazing shape works out everyday. I don't know about the hydration I will ask.

B.

 

[Thalassamania]

I'd bet way better than even money on CO2 retention. Breathing deeper and more often should eliminates the issue.

 

[Teamcasa]

Thanks for all the great information. The head aches usually occur about 15 - 20 min in to the dive. The pain is strongest at the top and back of his head so I don't think it is sinus related. This guy is in amazing shape works out everyday. I don't know about the hydration I will ask.

B.

I'd bet way better than even money on CO2 retention. Breathing deeper and more often should eliminates the issue.

Ditto.

Try this: Slowly count to 4 inhaling, then count to 6 exhaling. Co2 headache - gone.

 

[Amphiprion]

I get migraines every day for a week about once every six months. Ended up getting one on deco. That was fun.

Getting to the surface and realizing that I was also having light sensitivity from the migraine and that my sunglasses were on the boat which was about 300 meters away - also lots of fun.

 

[a22shady]

Could be CO2 retention or dehydration. He could be exerting himself too much as well

This is really likely as my G/F would also get headache usually towards end or after dive not as bad as you had described. But what we gathered was from her working harder and not staying relaxed and bad breathing pattern maybe not drinking enought water. One thing we did (Still Testing) Since we are Nitrox Certified did last 2-3Dives using Nitrox only(32-36%) and she had no headaches. Now not sure if its because she was moving slower, breathing better know that it was talked about or Since we dove with more Oxygen(Nitrox) which is very likely.