An eye opener

[soggybadger]

Nothing like a deep cert at the weekend to show you how woefully poor your skills are. The main issue i had to deal with was loss of feeling in my right hand making it impossible to grip anything and some severe pain. This started at about 20m and progressively got more severe the deeper we went. It wasn't until we had ascended to about 10m that I was able to have full use of my hand again. The only conclusion I can make is that a knot in the stitching of the neoprene wrist seal had been pressing on a nerve in my wrist. I had a similar problem about one month ago but it was at about 20m and involved the other hand and just loss of sensation in three fingers. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Thanks. Iain.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

IMHO the most important skill a diver needs to learn is when to call a dive. The paain and a malfunctioning body part you describe are good reasons to abort a dive. Unfortunately new divers are reluctant to call a dive particularly on a dive course. Without the yardstick of personal experience it is hard to measure the factors to determine what is normal and what isn't. The instructor, dive guide, or buddy don't know what you are experiencing so they can't make the determination for you.

If you can work out for sure that your wetsuit is too tight fair enough but failing that I would suggest you check with a dive medical professional.

 

[soggybadger]

IMHO the most important skill a diver needs to learn is when to call a dive. The paain and a malfunctioning body part you describe are good reasons to abort a dive. Unfortunately new divers are reluctant to call a dive particularly on a dive course. Without the yardstick of personal experience it is hard to measure the factors to determine what is normal and what isn't. The instructor, dive guide, or buddy don't know what you are experiencing so they can't make the determination for you.

If you can work out for sure that your wetsuit is too tight fair enough but failing that I would suggest you check with a dive medical professional.

Just had two medicals in the last couple of months and have had nothing come up. I forgot to say that I was wearing a dry suit and that the wife is a doc and also thinks it could be pressure on a nerve. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Marie13]

If it really bothers you, consider getting rid of the neoprene seals and going latex or silicone (user replaceable system for silicone)..

 

[MaxBottomtime]

You could also go with dry gloves without seals. A puncture in a glove will get you a bit wet but it's easier to don/doff your suit.

 

[EricTheDood]

My wife has a very similar problem. Her hands don't go numb but she gets a stabbing pain in her wrist joints past 20m.

Slowing down the descent while cracking her joints seems to have mitigated the pain.

This is in warm water in a 2mm wetsuit, so no wrist seals here.

 

[blac86]

If the wrist seals are top tight they may be restricting blood flow causing cramping and loss of strength.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Nothing like a deep cert at the weekend to show you how woefully poor your skills are. The main issue i had to deal with was loss of feeling in my right hand making it impossible to grip anything and some severe pain. This started at about 20m and progressively got more severe the deeper we went. It wasn't until we had ascended to about 10m that I was able to have full use of my hand again. The only conclusion I can make is that a knot in the stitching of the neoprene wrist seal had been pressing on a nerve in my wrist. I had a similar problem about one month ago but it was at about 20m and involved the other hand and just loss of sensation in three fingers. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Thanks. Iain.

Thanks for the additional information it is quite reassuring. Most divers are not so fortunate with access to such great resources. For any divers reading this thread who don't have the resources to rule out medical causes that you do - my advice stands. We need to be careful about medical issues and the risk of DCS.

I have to add I still have some concern that if an emergency happened to a diver with reduced use of a hand there is a greater danger it will escalate. The risks are even more significant in less experienced divers.

@soggybadger thanks for this thread it made me think of Lynn (TSandM) and motivated me to finally post in here TSandM -- Her Greatest Posts She spoke often of the Incident Pit concept

There's a concept called the "incident pit", where the idea is that accidents are kind of like ant lions' lairs. At the beginning the funnel's pretty wide and not very steep -- you can take one step in and probably turn around and get out. But each step you take puts you on a steeper slope, and closer to being eaten at the bottom.

 

[HantsDiver]

Nothing like a deep cert at the weekend to show you how woefully poor your skills are. The main issue i had to deal with was loss of feeling in my right hand making it impossible to grip anything and some severe pain. This started at about 20m and progressively got more severe the deeper we went. It wasn't until we had ascended to about 10m that I was able to have full use of my hand again. The only conclusion I can make is that a knot in the stitching of the neoprene wrist seal had been pressing on a nerve in my wrist. I had a similar problem about one month ago but it was at about 20m and involved the other hand and just loss of sensation in three fingers. Has anyone else experienced anything similar? Thanks. Iain.

What drysuit do you have? I only ask as you are in the UK. If you have an oThree or Typhoon (they are quite similar) then check the stiching on the wrist seal. It's not unknown for it to have a lump on the stitching. If that's the case a new seal is really quite cheap. Sorry if you are diving in a wetsuit and I'm well of the mark.

Also what undersuit are you using? (If using a drysuit). Some have thumb loops which will keep the suit close to your wrist. Some do not. This can act as a level of protection. But if the stitching look uniform and good check of any problems with the undersuit.

 

[soggybadger]

What drysuit do you have? I only ask as you are in the UK. If you have an oThree or Typhoon (they are quite similar) then check the stiching on the wrist seal. It's not unknown for it to have a lump on the stitching. If that's the case a new seal is really quite cheap. Sorry if you are diving in a wetsuit and I'm well of the mark.

Also what undersuit are you using? (If using a drysuit). Some have thumb loops which will keep the suit close to your wrist. Some do not. This can act as a level of protection. But if the stitching look uniform and good check of any problems with the undersuit.

You are bang on with that. I have a typhoon and yes it does have a small knot in the stitching and this is what I too believe is the problem. Gonna go with either replacement latex seals or dry gloves and see how I get on.