Scary after dive experience?

[LKunze]

Just a little story of something I experienced diving this past weekend. When ascending after the first dive I noticed a kind of ice cream headache (that sort of "cold shock" type feeling.) in my temples once I reached about 30 ft. What's strange is that my sinuses were totally clear and I wasn't sick at all and felt great before this happened and during the dive. My first thought was that it was a sinus squeeze or block of some sort but my ears were cleared and felt fine. I ascended ok though to the surface after the safety stop and felt ok at the surface. We ended up farther away from our entry point than we had antipated so the thought was to take a compass bearing and descend to 10 ft and swim underwater back to the entry point as we all had plenty of air left. I didn't even get to 10 feet and I felt this same pain in my temples again. I had to abort and surface swim back. I was a little concerned. We broke for lunch and a 2 hour surface interval and decided to try another dive. The second dive was to 90 ft and I didn't notice this headache feeling really much at all on the second dive, perhaps a little bit on ascent but it didn't "hurt" or feel uncomforting like it did on the first dive.
On my drive home, from the dive, after about an hour on the road I stopped at a wayside rest to use the can and get out and stretch. I noticed a weird sound when I moved my neck around. It sounded and felt like something was squishing/crunching in the back of my neck but I experienced no pain whatsoever. This was exremely strange. When I got home an hour and a half later I didn't notice the squishing/crunching in my neck at all and felt fine and thought nothing of it. I posted this over at ScubaBoard and they said it sounded like I had "Subcatenous Emphysema" where air became trapped in the tissues of my neck due to significant barotrauma. The medical regulator over there recommended I contact DAN. This scared the crap out of me.
So...I called DAN this morning and explained everything to a doctor there and he said that it did in fact sound as though I had experienced "Subcataneous Emphysema" but the fact that the symptoms cleared quickly and that I have had no side effects since the day of diving that I probably didn't suffer any "permanent" damage. This was a huge relief. The DAN doctor I spoke with gave me a name and number of a diver physician in the Twin Cities that I can contact to have them check to be sure. Apparently this condition is more common in cold water, etc but it's still a mystery to me why it happened because my dive profiles were easily within acceptable limits. Just thought I'd pass this on.

[Chris]

Wow... that is scary. So you feel fine now and all the symptoms are gone?

[LKunze]

Yeah I feel fine, in fact the only pain I ever had was the "cold" headache. The neck crunching thing didn't hurt at all, I could just hear it when I moved my neck. I did have a bit of a fatique headache from the long day and diving but I took a couple Ibuprofens when I got home and felt totally fine Saturday night and haven't felt any symptoms since. It's just really got me baffled because I don't understand "why" it happened and haven't got a "clear" explanation for it even from DAN.

[tcjtn0]

I remember noticing the trouble you had on our 1st dive (trying the 10 ft level swim back)
I myself had what felt like reverse blockage in my sinuses (above the eyes) after dive #2, but it cleared up
within about 5 minutes...Nothing like what you experienced....
I am *SOOOO* glad you are OK ... That's whats important !!!

Thanks...Jean

[tbrown]

A little scary there. Glad you are OK.

[LKunze]

Here's a couple of pieces of info from the DAN website I thought I'd add to this post.
Unfortunately, however, even when we follow all the rules for avoiding decompression illness, there are no guarantees that it won't occur. And what is even more perplexing is when you know you haven't violated any of the established rules - and yet find that you're bent. When signs and symptoms of DCI occur after a dive, series of dives or days of diving, and the diver has not violated any safety guidelines, it is sometimes referred to as "unexpected DCI."
Although no one can say for sure, it is more likely that this trapped air - or subcutaneous emphysema - originated from pulmonary barotrauma. Sometimes the lungs are over-pressurized, for instance, when we have difficulty clearing. This can happen when we attempt to put air into the sinuses and middle ear with more force than is necessary. This can actually increase the amount of pressure in the air spaces of the lung, which then allows air to escape through lung tissue, where it can travel up to the shoulder, neck or even the face.

Subcutaneous emphysema does not require recompression treatment. However, it is a good idea to be evaluated by your physician to determine the underlying cause of the air bubbles.

[DanL]

Lonnie,
Glad you are OK. Scary thing is that we all discussed your headache, had a 2-1/2 hr surface interval, ate a relaxing lunch, etc. and then did a second deep dive after assuming that you were just fine because your headache went away.
Seems we should ahve been a little more wary after your "ice cream headache" even though it cleared up quickly and shouldn't have done a second dive at all.
Again, really glad you are OK. Maybe that nitrox course rule "If it doesn't seem right, it isn't right. End the dive" should be our motto.
Dan

[freedivernd]

Looks like a good reason to switch from the valsava technique of clearing to the frenzel, then the force is against the air in the mouth and throat, not the lungs.
Fred

[jasondbaker]

I didn't see the dive profile from the first dive. What was the max depth, etc... Glad to head you're okay buddy...

[LKunze]

Here are the profiles from my computer: I had a max depth of 78 ft, average depth 44ft and the dive time was 29 minutes on the first dive. I had a max depth of 95 ft, average depth 37 ft and the dive time was 36 minutes on the second dive. We had a 2 hour & 51 minute surface interval between the two dives.