pressure behind eye near bridge of nose??

[birdman123]

Hello All,

New to free diving but know a litttle and I am learning more. Love this site lot of good info.

Anyways when i dive down near 9-10 ft or more I get slightly painfull pressure behind right eye near where nose meets forehead, thought at first i just wasnt equilizing mask but thats not the case still get it when equalize mask.

What do you think?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[cdavis]

Very likely you have a sinus that is not equalizing, which means the normal air passage to the sinus is blocked/very restricted. Have any sinus/allergy problems? You can try things like pseudafed, various liquid or tablet antihistamines, afrin, etc. All shrink nasal passages, making it easier to equalize.
Its better to find out why its blocked, rather than just treating the symptoms. Possible milk/mucus issue, try getting off milk products several days before diving.

Don't push it, you can do real damage that is slow healing. If the problem continues, go see an nose doc.

Connor

P.S. Welcome to DB!

 

[Simos]

Hello All,

New to free diving but know a litttle and I am learning more. Love this site lot of good info.

Anyways when i dive down near 9-10 ft or more I get slightly painfull pressure behind right eye near where nose meets forehead, thought at first i just wasnt equilizing mask but thats not the case still get it when equalize mask.

What do you think?
Thanks for any advice.

Connor is right but just out of curiosity, are you equalising your ears successfully?

 

[birdman123]

Connor is right but just out of curiosity, are you equalising your ears successfully?

Yes ears equalize fine no issues there

 

[Simos]

Yes ears equalize fine no issues there

Sinuses should normally self-equalise - have you recently had a cold or anything like hay fever? A couple of nasal washes with neti pot or similar in the days before diving might help a bit... Or try something like a steam room if you have access to one (you can always try the old towel trick to breathe steam).

Anti-contestants normally help but it's best not to resort to those as there is a chance they might cause other issues and in any case it's much better to tackle the real cause as Connor suggested.

It's repetition but don't push in any way if you feel pain, it's easy to cause damage and these injuries are annoying and usually mean no diving for some time.

PS I know it sounds a bit over cautious but if you go for a nasal wash make sure to follow the instructions and use previously boiled water (not boiling of course), apparently people have died recently from a nasty brain eating amoeba in the water they used: http://www.deeperblue.com/2011/12/19/health-warning-for-sinus-remedy/

 

[Simos]

One thing to try is descending slowly feet first (you'll need a rope) to the same depth and seeing if that causes an issue - if your sinuses don't self-equalise easilyour might be worth trying to be a bit less aggressive with your duck dives