Any restrictions on diving after getting off a plane?

[Snowbear]

Yep - Deep Vein Thrombosis can be an issue for some people. The leg muscle action of walking around helps the blood circulate up from your legs. For some people, if they sit too long, the blood doesn't circulate enough and it clots. These little clots can then be dislodged and end up passing through the heart and end up as a pulmonary or cerebral embolus :11:

 

[Diversion]

Do a Google search on "airplane yoga" you'll get about 500,000 hits. Some of them are great ideas on how to relax and keep the blood flowing while flying.

 

[Gary D.]

Don't have my books in front of me at the moment, so forgive me if this should be easy to find I need a quick answer for some travel planning:

Are there any restrictions on diving as soon as you get OFF a flight??

I did a quick internet search and all I can find is info on how long to wait to fly AFTER diving.

What I am looking for is the other way around. If I take a morning flight can I dive the same afternoon? or the next morning.

Were you planning on letting the plane land first? If not take a parachute, it softens the contact with the water.

Drink lots of water starting days BEFORE the trip and continue drinking it during the entire trip.

Gary D.

 

[Charlie99]

Provided you're adequately hydrated you actually have an advantage in that your N2 loading is lower at the start of the dive than someone who waited.

That advantage is negligible, and is probably overwhelmed by the disadvantage of any residual bubbles from the inital ascent .... also a relatively minor effect, particular after a long flight.

 

[miketsp]

That advantage is negligible, and is probably overwhelmed by the disadvantage of any residual bubbles from the inital ascent .... also a relatively minor effect, particular after a long flight.

I agree it's a small advantage which is why I put the smiley.
However re your comment on bubbles on the initial ascent. I thought Haldane's experiments demonstrated that bubbles only form after a 2:1 pressure drop which does not happen on normal flights 1ATM -> 0.7ATM.
Even if there were bubbles the word "overwhelmed" would be a bit out of place. Most people I know going on holiday are doing long flights.

 

[Charlie99]

Haldane demonstrated that bubble formation was usually not enough to cause significant problems as long as the pressure ratio drop was not more than 2::1 with air. That's not the same as saying that no bubbles form until that pressure ratio.

Some of the more recent theories and models assume that small bubbles / micronuclei are always present, and that reductions in pressure will cause them to expand.
If small pressure ratio changes didn't cause any problem, then see-saw / sawtooth / yo-yo profiles wouldn't be a problem.

As other posters have noted, dehydration increases the risk of DCS. I also limit my diving on the day of arrival simply because I'm often not fully up to speed. Diving while fatigued makes one more prone to accidents. I do only simple, easy dives on my day of arrival. If I'm arriving late in the evening, I'll often not do advance booking for dives on the first morning, because I prefer to wait until then to see how I feel. I've been pretty lucky at most resorts with getting a spot as a walkon, and there have been a couple times where I was happy to just rollover and go back to sleep and start my diving in the afternoon.

Charlie

 

[LavaSurfer]

I can't remember the medical term; but were they talking about the blood clots that can form in your legs from flying a long time?

Sitting on long flights causes fluids to build up in the legs as does the lower pressure of the cabin. The term you are looking for is DVT or Deep Vein Thrombosis. This is nasty stuff. If you flight is over two hours you should take a walk every hour around the plane and do some leg stretches. Most airline inflight magazines offer stretching tips in them.

I for one always swell in the ankles oafter a good physical trip in hawaii and then fly home to Maryland if I sleep on the plane. I actually try to stay awake so I can stretch and walk. I imagine all that fatigued muscle and water pooling from sitting would increase your DCS risk. No theory here just a thought.

My concern is flying after a multi dive trip. I have one coming up in July to the Cayman's and my time after a Multi dive day to flight is les than 18 hours.

My last dive is around 7PM Sunday and I fly on Monday at 1:30PM

Dan reports show a very low risk but I know the guidline is 24 hours.
Thoretical desaturation is probably 6-8 hours by the computer models.

Any thoughts?

 

[dmpaq20]

It also depends on whether or not your gear arrives at the same destination as you...

Having your gear does make a difference