Pain in forehead?

[WesPowell]

Two summers ago, I gained an interest in free diving and started practicing at my local pool and lake. I never really wanted to push my limits but just wanted to be able to have the skills to be able to enjoy snorkeling and just being underwater. I learned to equalize and was diving 50feet pretty well. One day during a dive a few months after starting, I got a sharp pain just above my right eye in my forehead. I was probably around 20-25 feet below. I came back up not know what was going on. The rest of my dives that day and the following week were like that every time I went under. I took a few weeks off and came back without having an issue. Towards the end of summer, I had it happen again and decided that it would be my last day diving for the season.

Last summer I tried again. The first couple days were fine but about a week into it, the pain came back. For the rest of the summer I just swam and casually played in the water as my schedule did not really allow me to focus on diving.

A few months ago in January, I started swimming at a local indoor pool to get back in shape. After swimming laps, I got into the dive pool to see about diving. The very first dive the pain came back. I have been worried that I will not be able to do much diving for the rest of my life if the pain keeps returning.

Its a very sharp pain like an ice cream headache. The pain lowers when I go back to the surface but once its started, I can't even dive 8 feet before it starts killing again.

I have never really had sinus problems so I am not sure why it would be so common for me to feel this pain.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

 

[Apneaddict]

Sounds like sinus pressure.

Use a neti pot daily (esp for a week or so before a known dive) to keep everything clear.

Also, the sinus squeeze may partially be happening because of the mask pressure - so make sure to equalize the mask often.

Give that a shot and report back.

I never thought I had sinus issues either... But I am sensitive to pressure.

Don't I sound delicate?!?!
LOL

 

[WesPowell]

I will try the the netti pot before the next dive and I also heard about taking Sudafed? Will that help too?

I don't think its due to the mask because it still happens when I dive without one.

 

[BryanW]

Weird that the last post was April 6th, because that's the date I first encountered this problem. I developed a sinus squeeze at about 12m on about my third dive; next dive it was at 10m, then 8, etc. Overnight it cleared and then the same next day. I had Sudafed with me, but someone advised against it as prolonged use can actually increase the production of mucus, which I believe is the problem. I got some nasal decongestant to squirt up my nose and that seemed to deal with it (I took two shots each nostril ten minutes before each session). Apparently snorting sterile saline can work too, but don't do it with sea-water, which isn't clean enough. (Sounds like Netti pots are the best thing, but I have no experience of them ... yet.)

 

[vasile]

I had the similar problem like you and my cure was the netty pott used twice a day for a week and the problem solved,I used since every morning.Hope it will work for you too!

 

[TomW]

I've experienced sinus and ear problems only once on a dive and I know how frustrating it can be. For me what helped was aproaching the dive like climbing a mountain but in reverse. Going down only a little way (a couple of metres) before surfacing, then going down a little further; equalising or at least trying to at every stage. I didn't dive again for about the next ten minutes but instead swam around on the surface but this helped to disslodge whatever blockage was causing the discomfort. While this worked for me I must stress that under no circumstance should you try pushing a dive to the point of pain as this can have serious risks if pushed any further.

 

[Antoine]

Hi,
I have occasionally experienced sinus problems which lead to a sharp pain or ache at the bottom of the forehead on either side, but slightly above the nose. This was most probably due to the fact that I had had a cold a couple of days prior.
To get rid of the squeeze before diving, in shallow water, I dived down to about two-three metres until the pain was pretty strong (do not push it too far as this could have serious consequences) and then pushed hard on the sea floor with my legs to shoot back up. This caused a reverse squeeze which felt very strange since the change of pressure was very rapid. After having repeated that about ten times, the reverse squeezes probably cleared the blockage and I didn't have any problems for the next week of diving.
NB. after each reverse squeeze I experienced a very weird quiet whistling out of my nose - probably due to the expanding air slowing passing the blockage.

 

[WesPowell]

So I bought a netti pot a couple weeks ago and began using it every night (sometimes twice a day here and there). The weather has been rainy here so today was the first chance to see how well the netti pot helped.

It seemed to work!! First pain free dive of the year.

As I said in the first post, I was not able to dive past 8 feet without feeling pain. I did some practice dives today at 25 feet with no pain. Hopefully in a week or two I will be able to push it a little more and see if the netti pot will be the long term solution.

 

[Apneaddict]

Wow cool!

Also, try to use a mask that is both low-volume AND compressible, as this will transmit less pressure to your sinuses.

Aquasphere Sphera, Cressi superocchio, Sporasub Mystic, Sommap FLOW / "vodka vision" mask etc are all good examples.

To aid in making them more compressible, sometimes you can remove one of the inner seals (if there are 2) in certain spots and ALWAYS wear it as loose as possible at the surface, while still providing a seal.

Best of luck!

 

[Apneaddict]

Also - if you feel a bit stuffed up - use double the amount of salt in the neti pot, particularly if you're diving soon.

Warm water and double salt should give you a great chance at depth.