IRAP Administrator
08-04-2007, 01:19 PM
Did a relaxing dive in Jackson Blue on Saturday, about an hour of bottom time on EAN32, followed by a deep stop at 57 ft on the way out and a stop at 20 ft for 5 minutes on O2, which was more than the computer obligation of 2 min. Exposure protection was a 6mm semi dry, and the dive was on a scooter. Most of the dive was spent motoring back on the gold line, then turning at 3000 ft and exiting.
During the dive I could feel a bit of sinus squeeze, but because my ears and nose were clear I figured it would resolve itself. It became uncomfortable on the way up to the 20 ft deco stop, which is part of the reason I extended that stop. With no resolution, I proceeded to surface (took about 4 minutes to get there from 20 ft), and figured it would clear. The sinus pain felt like a nail being driven into my face under my right eye. At this point, I just wanted to get my gear back into my truck and get out of the wetsuit into dry clothes. As I broke down my gear, my right upper lip started to tingle, and my teeth on that side had a strange feeling as well. By the time my gear was disassembled, my upper lip on the right side of my face was completely numb, and the numbness was spreading upward thru my cheek. I called DAN and they told me to go to the local emergency room to get a hands on evaluation. The cell phone dropped the call several times and they called me back promptly each time. (note - when I called DAN I told them I had been cave diving and they put a specialist on the phone with me) I drove to Cave Adventures and asked Edd for directions to the hospital and explained what was going on. He asked if I could drive, and when I said yes, he gave me directions and told me to get on my O2 bottle for the drive, and bring it in if needed. By this time the numbness was all the way up to (and included) my lower eyelid on the right side of my face. I was not panicking, but was more than a little freaked out. I got to the hospital, checked in, called home to let my wife know what was going on, and waited. Couldn't have been more than a half hour, when the doctor called me back. During the wait, the sinus pain was intense, spreading from my upper jaw to my eye, centered just below my eye. The doctor did a neurological exam (blink, smile, shrug, etc), and said that what he saw was a sinus reverse block that had squeezed and pinched the nerve that brings sensation from that part of my face back to the brain, thru the lower edge of the eye socket. He said to use Afrin, gave me a prescription for an antibiotic in case the sinus had been injured and got infected, and released me from the ER. After he did the evaluation and was getting the prescription together, I could feel the squeeze backing off, and could start feeling my lower eyelid, and then my cheek. By the time I was out the door the numbness had completely resolved itself, and besides a somewhat strange sensation in my teeth on the right side of my upper jaw, I was back to normal by 2:00pm.
I had no history of sinus problems, beyond one brief incident in Devils a couple years ago that resolved itself under water on the way to deco.
The doctor told me that I could use Afrin 2x per day for up to three days if diving, to keep the sinuses open. He cautioned that if used for more than three days, it can irritate the sinuses and actually inflame them, making the problem worse.
During the event I was concerned that perhaps I had experienced a stroke or an air embolism. Fortunately everything worked out for the better. I think that my exposure protection was on the light side, and combined with the DPV may have contributed to cooling me down to the point where my sinuses started acting up.
During the dive I could feel a bit of sinus squeeze, but because my ears and nose were clear I figured it would resolve itself. It became uncomfortable on the way up to the 20 ft deco stop, which is part of the reason I extended that stop. With no resolution, I proceeded to surface (took about 4 minutes to get there from 20 ft), and figured it would clear. The sinus pain felt like a nail being driven into my face under my right eye. At this point, I just wanted to get my gear back into my truck and get out of the wetsuit into dry clothes. As I broke down my gear, my right upper lip started to tingle, and my teeth on that side had a strange feeling as well. By the time my gear was disassembled, my upper lip on the right side of my face was completely numb, and the numbness was spreading upward thru my cheek. I called DAN and they told me to go to the local emergency room to get a hands on evaluation. The cell phone dropped the call several times and they called me back promptly each time. (note - when I called DAN I told them I had been cave diving and they put a specialist on the phone with me) I drove to Cave Adventures and asked Edd for directions to the hospital and explained what was going on. He asked if I could drive, and when I said yes, he gave me directions and told me to get on my O2 bottle for the drive, and bring it in if needed. By this time the numbness was all the way up to (and included) my lower eyelid on the right side of my face. I was not panicking, but was more than a little freaked out. I got to the hospital, checked in, called home to let my wife know what was going on, and waited. Couldn't have been more than a half hour, when the doctor called me back. During the wait, the sinus pain was intense, spreading from my upper jaw to my eye, centered just below my eye. The doctor did a neurological exam (blink, smile, shrug, etc), and said that what he saw was a sinus reverse block that had squeezed and pinched the nerve that brings sensation from that part of my face back to the brain, thru the lower edge of the eye socket. He said to use Afrin, gave me a prescription for an antibiotic in case the sinus had been injured and got infected, and released me from the ER. After he did the evaluation and was getting the prescription together, I could feel the squeeze backing off, and could start feeling my lower eyelid, and then my cheek. By the time I was out the door the numbness had completely resolved itself, and besides a somewhat strange sensation in my teeth on the right side of my upper jaw, I was back to normal by 2:00pm.
I had no history of sinus problems, beyond one brief incident in Devils a couple years ago that resolved itself under water on the way to deco.
The doctor told me that I could use Afrin 2x per day for up to three days if diving, to keep the sinuses open. He cautioned that if used for more than three days, it can irritate the sinuses and actually inflame them, making the problem worse.
During the event I was concerned that perhaps I had experienced a stroke or an air embolism. Fortunately everything worked out for the better. I think that my exposure protection was on the light side, and combined with the DPV may have contributed to cooling me down to the point where my sinuses started acting up.