Surfacing with a pounding headache after a dive can actually take the enjoyment out of going underwater and will even trigger you to overlook dives or surrender diving altogether. We will hint most post-dive complications, nonetheless, again to a number of simply preventable causes. Right here, we’ll study causes for and prevention of post-dive complications.
Dive lengthy sufficient and you’ll floor with a headache at one time or one other. Based on DAN, complications are one of the frequent complaints of divers who contact the group. To resolve the issue, it’s necessary to take a look at when post-dive complications happen to try to discover a frequent trigger.
Typically, a one-off headache that goes away spontaneously after a dive, or after taking delicate headache treatment, is never a trigger for concern. Repetitive complications, or these not clearing simply, could require a more in-depth look, nonetheless.
In poor health-fitting tools
In poor health-fitting tools could be one of many fundamental culprits relating to post-dive complications. New divers, particularly, usually over-tighten their masks strap, hoping it should stop water from getting into the masks. Over the course of a dive, nonetheless, the strap can put rigidity on the face and across the cranium, resulting in a headache.
One other wrongdoer is likely to be a hood that’s too tight or the neck seal of a drysuit that doesn’t fairly match proper. On the similar time, a hood that’s too huge is a poor insulator towards chilly water and will result in an excessive amount of of the diver’s face being uncovered. A so-called ‘ice cream headache’ is usually the consequence.
It’s price taking the time to strive on varied masks, hoods, and adjusting neck seals till they match nicely. The extra snug you are feeling underwater, the extra seemingly you’re to dive extra, and vice versa.
One other ache level might be your tank valve. Particularly you probably have beforehand skilled neck or shoulder issues and really feel that your neck is in an unnatural place all through the dive, this may increasingly lead to a rigidity headache. Some divers report this drawback once they begin diving in trim. Identical to holding a yoga place, your physique could take a little bit of time to get used to the place, so take a couple of minutes throughout your dive to chill out and stretch to keep away from extreme rigidity.
Sinus issues and squeezes
It’s price contemplating the place your head hurts. In case your headache manifests within the frontal space, behind your brow, for instance, poorly equalized sinuses is likely to be the trigger. Equalization could also be one of many first abilities diving college students study, however not everybody masters it straight away.
Divers may typically dive with a slight chilly and equalize forcefully or maybe incompletely, which can result in a reverse squeeze on ascent. All these situations could cause complications.
Masks squeezes could also be one other trigger. If you’re task-loaded in your descent and equalizing your masks is just not but computerized, a masks squeeze will manifest with some trauma round your eyes (in dangerous circumstances, it’s possible you’ll find yourself with two black eyes) and with a headache. The simplest prevention is to incorporate equalizing your masks in your descent routine.
Dehydration
Dehydration performs a task in lots of dive-related issues. Particularly when tech diving or diving on consecutive days, it’s essential for divers to hydrate often and forestall dehydration within the first place. That doesn’t imply downing ½-gallon of water very first thing within the morning after an enormous night time out, however as a substitute hydrating often and limiting alcohol, caffeine, and different diuretics to keep away from creating an electrolyte imbalance within the physique.
Dehydration has additionally been linked to decompression illness, giving divers much more motive to prioritize common and constant hydration.
Gases
Different sources of post-dive complications are carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Carbon monoxide is most frequently related to cylinders stuffed from unsuitable sources, resembling a compressor air consumption close to a busy street pulling in automotive exhaust fumes, for instance. A badly maintained compressor pumping insufficiently filtered respiratory fuel could also be another excuse.
Carbon monoxide complications are usually extreme and could be accompanied by nausea, dizziness, and vomiting. They usually begin throughout the dive and, opposite to minor complications, they’re unattainable to disregard. Should you suspect somebody has a carbon monoxide headache, it’s finest to get the diver out of the water and provides them oxygen. Relying on the severity, you might also require skilled medical therapy.
Carbon dioxide complications, alternatively, are principally associated to improper respiratory methods resembling skip-breathing and overexertion. Our our bodies produce CO2 after we metabolize oxygen, and it’s wanted to set off our respiratory reflex. Nonetheless, an excessive amount of CO2 begins inflicting a number of issues.
Overexertion results in extreme CO2 build-up and retention in our physique. If the diver doesn’t cease to chill out, the CO2 extra can result in robust fuel narcosis, thus negatively influencing decision-making underwater. CO2 build-up has additionally been related to a better susceptibility to oxygen toxicity and DCS.
Skip-breathing is one other reason for CO2 retention as divers restrict the fuel change happening of their lungs. By skipping breaths, we reduce each the quantity of CO2 that’s faraway from our our bodies and the quantity of O2 that’s inhaled and distributed from our lungs to the remainder of the physique. Within the brief time period, skip-breathing could seem to scale back fuel consumption, however it’s not price it contemplating the results of permitting CO2 build-up and retention.
One other consider CO2 retention is fuel density. Related to taking dense gases, like air, to higher depths, that is particularly a priority for technical and rebreather divers.
Some divers report feeling higher when diving nitrox. Whereas there look like fairly just a few divers who really feel this impact, there is no such thing as a actual scientific proof of this to the most effective of the writer’s information. Saying that, if diving nitrox suits your dive profile, both by extending backside time or making your dive extra conservative, this must be sufficient motive to make use of it.
Stress and Nervousness
How did you are feeling in regards to the dive? Should you enter the water wired or anxious in regards to the dive forward, that is prone to result in a headache. Stress itself can’t be averted— perhaps that is the check-out dive on your subsequent qualification? Possibly there are specific abilities that you could carry out on this dive to remain on monitor? However our response to emphasize is beneath our management. Guaranteeing an intensive briefing, sharing your issues together with your buddies, dive workforce, or your teacher will all go a great distance towards managing the stress or nervousness you are feeling.
DCS
Most diving complications aren’t severe and are simply resolved. Nonetheless, they could be a signal of decompression illness. In case your post-dive headache accompanies a very deep or lengthy dive profile or a speedy ascent, or for those who floor with some other DCS-related signs, it’s time to contact DAN or the closest hyperbaric chamber for steering.
In case you have severe issues about your post-dive complications or in the event that they turn out to be something greater than a minor inconvenience, seek the advice of a diving doctor for skilled medical recommendation. In any case, dive journeys must be one thing fulfilling, and post-dive complications ought to by no means damage the enjoyable.
