Holding your Breath

[Esprise Me]

You can hold your breath while scuba diving as long as you don't ascend without exhaling. And you can even ascend just a little bit, if you're deep enough; you're not going to embolize coming up from 90 feet to 86 feet with the same amount of air in your lungs. (Those same 4 feet could be a problem if you're ascending from 4 feet to the surface though.) It's just simpler to tell new divers to never hold their breath.

 

[Rusty Shackleford]

I do it all the time but only while descending so I can flare my body and control my descent rate.

You should never hold your breath while ascending on SCUBA.

Training agencies just dumb it down to never ever period.

 

[HKGuns]

I really appreciate the answers from all the experienced people here.

 

[Bob DBF]

There is holding your breath, and holding your breath. The first is closing your airway, not breathing, and holding the air in your lungs. The second is holding your airway open, not breathing, and the air in your lungs can move out if you ascend.

I use the second method on SCUBA when not actively breathing, and on my free diving ascents (spear fishing, and ab diving back when it was legal) just so I only remember one routine. If I was doing some of the real serious free diving this may not be possible.

 

[D_Fresh]

There is holding your breath, and holding your breath. The first is closing your airway, not breathing, and holding the air in your lungs. The second is holding your airway open, not breathing, and the air in your lungs can move out if you ascend.

I use the second method on SCUBA when not actively breathing, and on my free diving ascents (spear fishing, and ab diving back when it was legal) just so I only remember one routine. If I was doing some of the real serious free diving this may not be possible.

Maybe I can expand upon that just slightly....
Method 1 (BAD): Closing off the airway by closing the throat. The same as a person typically does in a swimming pool. This method does not allow air to escape, causing the lungs to expand in the same manner as the balloon filled at depth (as seen in the video) or a bag of chips at altitude in an airplane, and is likely to cause a rupture or an AGE.

Method 2 (safer): Holding air in the lungs by using the diaphragm muscle, while keeping the throat open. Like you do when you take a big sigh or yawn. This method allows air to freely escape as it expands. And again, as others have said, deeper in the water column is safer than at the surface, and small changes in depth shouldn't present a problem, but larger changes in depth can be dangerous.

 

[HKGuns]

Really good information in these last two posts. Never thought about it in that way.

 

[D_Fresh]

Also, as mentioned earlier, by others, it's safer and more simple for the various scuba associations to simply instruct "Never Hold Your Breath" during training. But, as you've learned, it is possible to do it safely, as long as the correct technique is used.

IMO, It's important to learn and practice this while at home, watching TV or whatever else, before attempting to do it below the surface.

There is one other consideration with breath hold while diving... If a diver breath holds too much (too often), as in "skip breathing", the diver runs the risk to CO2 retention (too much CO2 in the body) which causes headaches and actually increases a diver's air consumption, not reducing it. But breath holding for a moment or two can be a great way to rise up and over something, before exhaling, and drifting back down to your original depth. (like going over a rock or large barrel sponge)

 

[UTscuba]

Simple, probably stupid question.

There are NO stupid questions

 

[Pearlman]

And you can even ascend just a little bit, if you're deep enough; you're not going to embolize coming up from 90 feet to 86 feet with the same amount of air in your lungs. (Those same 4 feet could be a problem if you're ascending from 4 feet to the surface though.) It's just simpler to tell new divers to never hold their breath.

I am a little befuddled - isnt the pressure differential greater when ascending from 90 to 86ft? What makes it more dangerous at 4ft of water?

 

[D_Fresh]

I am a little befuddled - isnt the pressure differential greater when ascending from 90 to 86ft? What makes it more dangerous at 4ft of water?

The issue isn't the pressure differential, it's Boyle's law. Maybe this picture will help, but Boyle's law is not a line, it's a curve. So the issue is the expansion of gas (in this case air) on a Per Foot or Per Meter basis.