I’m vacationing in the Bahamas. Did a dive, screwed up, got mask squeeze. Two black eyes and the whites of my eyes are now 40% red from blood. This happened a few days ago.
Now, swelling around the eyes is almost gone. But eyes are still red. Kinda freaky.
No vision trouble. No pain. No issues whatsoever except red where the whites of my eyes should be. I believe it’ll take 2-3 weeks to clear up.
Here’s the question: what are the risks if I go on a other dive tomorrow? From what I’ve read, risks are minimal. Doesn’t seem like I can damage my eyesight by doing this, and I’ll avoid the mask squeeze issue this time around obviously. (I fixed on first dive but was a few seconds too late.)
There’s no doctor for me to see here. I realize there’s risk asking for help for medical conditions online but I am curious what info I can glean.
Ps if I dive tomorrow I’d limit dive to approx 40 feet. This is for a shark feeding dive and I am really hesitant to miss this experience. Won’t be able to repeat it again any time soon, so trying to weigh risks if I do it.
That’s one hell of a mask squeeze. Was it a rented mask or your own? (Just curious). I suggest you head over to scuba board, register and ask there. Personally, I’m not sure. I don’t know how this effects your tissue and off gassing. If you do it, stay well within no deco limits.
Are you a member of DAN (Divers Alert Network) ? (if not, you should be).
If you are, you can check their website - I believe there’s a means to ask dive related health questions like yours online. Even if you’re not a member, they may be able to help you or point you to references.
I’ve called the DAN medical hotline twice for advice, and they never asked for my membership number. They are incredibly helpful. The most recent time was a similar type of issue - I bounced a few times on a shallow dive to check my location, and was having some ear trouble. I had a trip to the Keys scheduled for a week later, and wanted to get some advice. They told me to take an anti-inflamatory and not to pop my ears even though I was going to feel like I want to. Then try a shallow dive for the first dive, and decend slowly.
I highly recommend calling them. And then joining if you aren’t a member. E-mail and phone numbers are here.
ETA: Some links from DAN about mask squeeze. One Two
Both claim it looks worse than it is. Neither say you shouldn’t dive. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can…but it may be suggestive.
Thank you all for the replies. I’ll call DAN in the am. Yes everything I read seems to imply it’s ok. Just looking for further reassurance.
It was my mask but I’ll be honest, was my fault. Mistook the pain for sinus pain and tried equalizing my sinuses. Not the mask. Was a little rusty. Fixed within seconds but the damage was done. I did a full 80 foot nitrox dive unaware of the damage until I surfaced.
It shouldn’t be a problem. Just remember to exhale out through your nose.
The depth of your dive really doesn’t matter. All the dramatic stuff is happening in the shallowest few feet. From the surface down to maybe 15ft is more than enough pressure change to do the kind of damage you mention.
Evidently it can get pretty bad. Link here, spoilered because there are a lot of graphic injury photos on that page. Click the link, do a find for “mask”, and you’ll get a synopsis along with a pic that sounds a lot like the OP’s verbal description:
Glad to hear it! I did discuss it with my collection of instructor friends, since I typically see several on Wednesday nights. They all agreed that you were likely to be fine.
DAN is worth every cent, even if you just call once or twice to save a dive.
Meanwhile, I went free diving and had trouble equalizing my left ear. I stopped after a while and just hung at the surface, watching my friends go up and down. It was still bothering me overnight, but seems better now. I think I caught it before doing any damage, which is good. Planning a Key West trip in a few weeks!
