questions after first scuba dive

Obscure

I just did a scuba dive in croatia 4 days ago. it was my first time scuba diving so wasnt sure exactly what i was doing. The "instructor" didnt really speak english as such!
Anyway he said to pop your ears when you go down. Well i did a good few times. How often are you supposed to pop them?

When i got back up to the surface and took off the mask i was spitting a little blood and my nose was bleeding (i'm sure the blood in the mouth was just from the nose bleed). Why did that happen? Also, my hearing on my right ear is a little messed up, i can still hear and all, just "echo-y".

Where did it all go wrong?

Think ill do the PADI in ireland when i get back, diving was exciting if a bit frightning the first time!!!

Ob'scure

banbutcher

cool that you liked diving! i think your avatar is quite suting to your post!!! LOL

vibe666

the simple answer to how often you should 'pop' your ears is whenever you feel you should. the reason it's done is because there are airspaces in there behind your eyebrows and as you go down further that air is compressed which pulls in the tissue around these spaces making them smaller and consequently making it hurt.

all you are doing is topping them up with more air to 'equalise' the pressure in there with the pressure outside of your head.

it's the same effect you get when you are on a plane that is landing, only the pressures involved in diving are similar, although only over a few feet because water is a lot more dense than air and the effects are a lot more concentrated.

as for the nosebleed, I wouldn't worry too much, it's possible that there was some excess pressure in there because the correct procedures weren't explained to you properly (was it a PADI dive centre?).

give it another go at a proper recognised PADI centre here in Ireland and they will make sure you are safe and understand exactly what you need to do.

good luck and happy diving.:)

daveg

I'm going to assume your dive was an introductory dive as you have not mentioned completing any training. Firstly scubadiving is one of the most dangerous sports in the world and as such there are structured training courses that have to be complete before you can dive in a group/with your buddy without an instructor. Introductory dives are supposed to be run in confined water (such as a swimming pool) and you should only descend to approx 3-5 meters. Irish dive centres will insist you have completed at least your Padi open water . It is advisable to complete the Advanced open water directly afterwards. This course basically consists of 5 adventure dives to be completed with an instructor to gain experience and is well worth the cash. For an idea of the costs involved please check out Scubadive west's courses and prices .

As Vibe666 has said the "popping of the ears" is simply to equalize the pressure and relieve the "squeeze" you feel when you descend in the water - much like when you take off/land in a plane, but it tends to be more extreme. As regards your nose bleed did you have any sinus problems that day like a cold?

Evil Phil

You might want to go and see you doctor about your ear. You weren't told how often you should equalise and so you're ears got a bit of a battering. You might have an ear infection. Its quite common and some drops will sort it out quick enough.

Mick L

Welcome to diving Obscure. I hurt my ear during a dive due to improper equalising as well. Like you, I could still hear but it sounded funny. I got it checked out in the eye and ear hospital. The ear drum was a bit swollen, hence the funny hearing. A few anti-imflamatories later it was fine again. As has already been said, the best thing to do would be to see a doctor about the ear and the nose bleed, better safe than sorry.

Also don't let this experience put you off diving, as you've said, do a course when you get home. You're training is important, you need to be able to understand your instructors and they need to be able to understand you. It's not really a sport where you can just learn by doing, especially at the start, there are things you need to know and understand before you get into the water, such as when to equalise. Check out the Useful links thread for some dive centres or let us know where you are located and we might know a centre nearby.

ka

Hi Obscure

The "rule" is to clear your ears as you descend every 1m - this is to ensure that the air spaces are equalised safely and regularly.

However as others have said, you should equalise if you feel pressure. It is possible you tried to hard to equalise your ears - hence the nose bleed.

When you do your PADI course - it should be a more gentle introduction.


Do seek a doctors opinion on your ear, it will only take a minute to look at it - and could prevent any further diving/non diving problems.

Happy diving

HTH

AL][EN

Hey obscure
welcome to the diving scene im just really going to echo what everyone else has said really you now know the reason why you got the nose bleed/ear problems

so i'll just say that its probably worth getting the ear checked out just in case its nothing to worry about, there are alot of diveshops and clubs that will give you friendly proffesional advise and training (there listed in one of the sticky threads in the main page)

(sorry still dont know how to link threads) - DOH!!

go get trained at a PADI dive center as in my opinion (and its only my opinion) there the best club around to train/dive with
once you get your open water cert for diving its all up up and away (or down as the case may be)

so g'luck and hope to see you on a boards.ie dive
happy diving

AL][EN

slightly OT but:

see nobody told me you can just copy and paste a url into a thread and it links up automatically :rolleyes: - Doh!!! now i feel like an idot........



anyway further to my post above here is the link i was on about
obscure that will give ye info on dive shops clubs etc you might be able to get training there:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=96851

Peace

Originally posted by Obscure

When i got back up to the surface and took off the mask i was spitting a little blood and my nose was bleeding (i'm sure the blood in the mouth was just from the nose bleed). Why did that happen? Also, my hearing on my right ear is a little messed up, i can still hear and all, just "echo-y".

Dude,

Its totally a brain anurism - if you ask nicely a doctor can replace the damaged brain with a suitable replacement.

*all information in this reply is completely bogus and should be ignored.

TacT

hmmm, go to your dentist for a checkup.
Do you have a sensitive tooth on the same side as the popping ear?
It's probably an ear infection but could be a little more serious in that it's some infection in your teeth that came up to your ears while under the pressure of diving.
Unfortunately diving will pick on the weakest teeth and make you pay for them being weak/infected in anyway.

I had a similar experience in France this Summer that ruined a small week of my holiday due to a stupid Dentist here in Dublin that I have now nick-named "The Local Butcher"

I had a rotten tooth that gave me a nasty ear infection while ascending and descending that gave me the symptoms you describe so I recommend a visit to the dentist for the teeth and the doctor for the ears....Don't do any diving until at least 8 days after the infection has cleared.

xzodia

it sounds as if you might have a bit of a synus problem alot of people get a nose bleed on their first dives but a checkup is always a good thing


i would suggest a doctor familiar with diving there is a tread with doctor info on boards

Evil Phil

Medical contact numbers: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=112304

Go see you're gp first though.

Obscure

Tks for the replies!
There is no pain with the ear but that echo-y thing still happening, not as bad though. Still in Croatia at the moment (back soon) but once i get back to Ireland ill have them checked out.

Just to reply to some of the possible reasons:
I was trying maybe a bit too hard to equalise cos i was a bit freaked at the beginning of the dive i think. Strange feeling breathing under-water!
Dont think i have any teeth problems but i might just get a check-up anyway.
Me not so cure om brain anurism butt my chek-out me think.

I think the dive we did was around 10 metres (i think), it was more than 5 anyway, we were a bit of a distance from surface.

The centre was in Cavtat in Croatia,
http://www.epidaurum-diving-cavtat.hr/
They're not PADI but SSI (?). Anyway, they were friendly and all but i would not recommend them for first time divers. Actually after my experience id suggest any first dive should be in ireland where you can understand what the instructors are trying to tell you, cos you realise soon enough that scuba is not a sport. But for experienced ppl the dive was really good with fish and ****!



Obscure

Evil Phil

I've just been to see my Dentist for a check-up so I asked her about scuba-diving and teeth. She said that yes, it can cause an infection to flare up. She also said that the pressure can be felt in amalgram (spl?) fillings too but that its nothing to worry about and is normal. Apprantely this will feel like you're 'chewing toffees'.

Her big concern was trapped air. With older fillings air could be forced in between the tooth and the filling when under pressure. Then when you surface this air expands. You get the idea *ouch*

Peace

Originally posted by Evil Phil
Her big concern was trapped air. With older fillings air could be forced in between the tooth and the filling when under pressure. Then when you surface this air expands. You get the idea *ouch*

I read a report from a guy who dived the lusitania off cork. 90m+ dive and when he was doing deco he could feel the pressure on a tooth. He had to descend and for part of it since the pain was getting too bad.

The last thing you need on 3 hours worth of deco is a dodgy tooth.

NordicDiver

My friends tooth splitt up in four parts after a dive, kind of exploded. I always tell my dentist that a dive.

The last thing you need on 3 hours worth of deco is a dodgy tooth.

Or a pee valve that are stuck :f33r:

Mick L

Originally posted by NordicDiver
My friends tooth splitt up in four parts after a dive, kind of exploded. I always tell my dentist that a dive.

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

mouths watering just thinking about it, and not in a good way.

AL][EN

Originally posted by Mick L
AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH

mouths watering just thinking about it, and not in a good way.

oh dear god!!! how he didnt pass out with the pain i'll never know.

/me cringes

your right mickL as i read that post my mouth watered just thinking about it

scubadiving2

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If this is not spam please pm me and we can discuss.

Einstein

um, the thread is 5 years old.