bloody nose

[ianwheeldon]

this might sound silly but whenever i surface from a dive these days my mask has blood in from a nosebleed. it's always stopped by the time i surface and i never notice it bleeding when i'm underwater. i very rarley get into fights underwater and if i do i always win, so i made the logical assumtion that it's due to equalization. i seem to have to blow quite hard to equalize. could it be my mask? should i just try not to blow so hard? i'm still waiting for the doc to have a proper look so any tips are welcome. after all, it's your water i'm polluting too.
ian.  

[Hobby]

Hi Ian,the blood/snot cocktail can be a common thing.As you suspect,it's usually down to forced equalizations/partially blocked sinuses etc.Now I don't mean to sound cheeky(but don't really mind if I do LOL)but much of this could be down to your equalisation technique.
Read at the bottom of this page.There's a post by myself entitled "EARS.can you equalize properly?" have a good read of this and the others you'll see on this page,it's worth the effort honestly!
Get your Doc.to check for any damage anyway,always advisable.I don't think it's likely to be your mask unless you have trouble getting hold of your nose with it.The tightness of your hood could affect equalisation however,the aforementioned posts should give you details of this.Hope this helps,Hobby.

[daz]

Hi Ian,

I agree with Hobby on this one,  I have seen this a few times and it is usually due to sinus congestion.  I believe it is a safety mechanism of the body that if the sinuses cannot equalise they fill with blood.

I always do some gentle equalising before even getting into the water,  I repeat this quite a few times.  I also equalise on the surface before descending and then equalise very often on descent (every couple of feet or less).

But do get it checked by the Doc it could be due to other reasons such as polyps (I think that is what they are called).

HTH
Darren

[Phil Ennis]

Ian,

Get checked by your Doc but unless you are experiencing any discomfort I dont think you have anything to worry yourself about. If you read Hobby's post you will find it very useful.

[PaulC]

I have exactly the same problem as Ian and have really just started to ignore it. The amounts of blood are very small and I cannot help wondering if I have a weak blood vessel or 2 up there. I don't really have problems equalising any more (although I did when I started out) so I am not sure there's a direct causal link. But I'll read Hobby's posts :biggrin: and Ian I'll be interested to hear what the doc says!

[John Gulliver]

You're probably right, Paul. I have a couple of weak blood vesels in my right nostril and frequently have micro nosebleeds – nothing to worry about but irritating. I have small scabs in that nostril most of the time. I have had it cautorised several times but it doesn't seem to make much difference and, as the doctors say, they could cauterise the whole mucous membrane but then I wouldn't be able to smell anything. Like you, I've stopped bothering about it. Fortunately (and oddly), I've never had a nosebleed during a dive, although I've had several when flying.

[Hobby]

Hi Folks,the blood vessels eg capilliaries in the nose and mucous membranes are very fine and easily damaged.(Think of when you blow your nose frquently with a cold).A reason why John may have experienced nose bleeds when flying but not diving is probably due to the moisture present/humidity etc.It's well known that "dry" equalisations eg in a chamber,can cause people difficulties when normally they would'nt encounter any in the water.This is why many Commercial divers use olive oil on their ears in a chamber,to allieviate the symptoms.Possibly John's nose bleeds are related to this,after all the pressure changes are there,just the water's missing.Hope this helps,Hobby.