Sinus Cavity Fracture

[Mafnet]

quick question for anybody with any medical knowledge or possible experience. I recently was in an accidental injury where I hit my face quite hard, just below my right eye covering much of the cheek area. this happened outside of my free diving. I fell unconscious immediately after the impact, only to wake up fifteen seconds, or so, later. strange thing, after the incident or twenty minutes later I went to clear my ears by holding my nose and blowing, the right side of my face quickly began to inflate. I went about my business until the following morning when I was to leave for north Carolina, the swelling went down substantially by this time but was still quite noticeable. while in the shower it felt as though something was dripping in the back of my throat. I went to clear it by, for lack of better words, "haucking a luggie" I then noticed I had spit clotted blood. I visited the doctor and postponed my trip a day. Waiting room, MRI's, the whole shabang. I was told I had "A fracture of the right maxillary antral wall with extensive subcutaneous emphysema". basically the Dr. told me I had cracked my sinus cavity so previously as I cleared my nose and forced air into it it pushed threw the crack into the facial tissue, and overnight blood had dripped into the crack and thus explaining everything. this happened a week ago today, as I have just arrived back from North Carolina. there is virtually no pain what so ever just numbness of the right of my upper lip but I think that's nerve damage. my question though is will my body rebuild the crack to the norm. I'd hate to think I can never go down to a decent pressure again. any suggestions are appreciated.

[deep thinker]

Did you hit your face quite hard or did someone else do it for you (HAd to ask)
Now, yes your body will fix the crack in time (about a month or so and it should be completely healed) Allthough the healing process will leave scar tissue in the area, so you will have a slight thickening of the sinus cavity wall in the area where it was torn or cracked. This mite either influence equilisation or not at all, if it does bother you the doc can do a scrape of the scarred area to bring it back to what it was but first see how it goes as its not really a fun op to go for.

[billieball]

My nose has been broken quite badly 3 times (2 accidental, 1 intentional...by a surgeon), and I have had extensive sinus surgery. All of the smaller bones that form honeycomb-like networks between the sinus cavities were broken up and removed, my septum was modified, turbinate bones removed, and all passages opened up surgically (or should I say "mechanically?"). Though my actual sinus cavity lining has never been "cracked" as you describe yours, they have been modified to the max. After 3-4 weeks time, the healing process was mostly complete after my last surgical procedure. I was diving again within 6 weeks, with no problems at all. As a matter of fact, I think the modifications actually aid my equalization abilities. Good luck, take it easy, and go slowly when you get back in the water.
Saline flushes help a lot, too. They aid in the removal of mucosa/blood/etc... from your cavities before any infection can set in. You can get the pre-mixed saline sprays to irrigate, or you can create your own using a douche-like tubing system. Clean as a whistle!

[Adrian]

moving to safety forum

[Mafnet]

talked to a specialist today, he told me I should be back in the water in about a month. strange thing though the mri showed that i had cracked my cheek bone and turns out in the past when I just started out diving and couldn't pressurize properly i had collapsed a sinus wall between two sinuses making one big one... that's weird

[Mafnet]

Thanks for the help. The docter says everything is healed up nicely. And for anyone interested here is what you can do and still be back in the water within two months.

Ruptured Sinus
http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...55001162b9.jpg

and

Broken Cheek Bone
l_3fcf0d849955e9be2fe30ad60f51b3aa.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

And from what I mentioned in earlier posts the after math of not pressurizing properly

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/j...1489feec39.jpg

enjoy...