Can I get bent in a pool? Terrible pain in my joints.

[harleyxx]

Saturday 8-4-07 my daughter and I planned a dive at a local spring. When we got there the park was full and they wouldn't let anyone else in. So we went back home and practiced some skills in our pool. The pool is only 8'-0 deep. We were in the water for about 1-1/2 hours swimming around, working on our bouyancy, ...ect. Not all of this happened at the 8'-0 level. We were back & forth from 8'0 to the surface.

Well, the next day Sun 8-7-07 I woke up with a pain in my hip. It got steadily worse as the day went on, to the point that it was difficult to walk at the end of the day.

I figured, I was just out of shape and since I was well within my No decompression limit there was no chance of DCS. I woke up Monday Morning 8-8-07 and the pain in my hip was completely gone. However the knuckles on the index finger of my right hand had started to hurt. It steadily got worse. BY the end of the day Tues it hurt so bad I could not bend it or even type with it. Now today Wed 8-9-07 My right elbow has started to hurt real bad. I cannot bend my right arm. My knuckles on my right hand are starting to hurt and get stiff. And my left hand is worse.

I am 44 220lb, A little overweight. But otherwise in good health. My tank was nitrox 36%.

I cannot explain the pain in my joints, but I don't see how it is possible I could get bent under these circumstances.

As I type this I am unable to use my left index finger because the pressure on the keys is excruciating.

My daughter tells me that there is no way I could get DCS in the pool, we went over the dive tables and I agree that it doesn't seem possible.

Is there any way I could have gotten bent, and if I did, have I waited to long to get help?

 

[D_B]

call DAN ...

Diving Emergency .... 919-684-4326 (24hrs)
Non-Emergency Dive Questions .. 919-684-2948 (8:30am - 8:00pm EST M - F )

and call your doctor .. you need to find out what's going on as soon as possible

 

[Web Monkey]

bad I could not bend it or even type with it. Now today Wed 8-9-07 My right elbow has started to hurt real bad. I cannot bend my right arm. My knuckles on my right hand are starting to hurt and get stiff. And my left hand is worse.
. . .

I cannot explain the pain in my joints, but I don't see how it is possible I could get bent under these circumstances.

Absolutely call DAN immediately.

Some things get better with time, however other things become permanent. Only a doctor can tell you which you have.

Terry

 

[Doc]

Call DAN, you bet. I'm not sure why, but certainly there's no reason "why not".

Since we're now calling DAN for dives in a pool, I guess that settles the old SB argument about logging such dives.

My guess? Spinal compression.

We get into wierd positions when we dive, some due to weighting and buoyancy, some others due to arching backs and craning necks up & back.

Because of some previous injuries (non dive) there are days I can barely walk. Give me a week of weightless diving- I can dance (for a few minutes!)

I have also learned that pressures directly applied by weights/bc/pack can exert enough force to excite nerves in the spine. I have a Poseidon BeSea (BC) that is specifically designed to minimize these issues. It is perfect for walking any distance (shore diving) in your rig. If I'm on a liveaboard, I take a BPW, if doing shore dives (like CCV), I use this wonderful, supportive BC.

Once you get into a neutral swimming position, relatively horizontal in the water column- It is a very easy thing to do to cock your head back, straining hard against your upper spine, really cranking the muscle group on your upper back. Later on, you may feel the effect in your fingertips.

Hips? They can easily be tweaked by finning, which- for most of us, is a "new" exercise fraught with next day aches and pains.

 

[Mitchell]

Hip pain could be too much weight on a belt.

I'm curious also to hear the result.

Good Luck

 

[charlesml3]

I would be completely beyond shocked if you were bent from an 8' dive in a pool. There just isnt enough pressure at that miniscule depth to dissolve nitrogen into your bloodstream.

-Charles

 

[Friggincold]

How about Lyme's disease it exhibits those symptoms. Been bit by any bugs lately?.........

 

[ScubaFreak]

Guys getting bent in a pool is a very real possibility and has happened in the past.
If you spent over an hour in the pool and you ascend and descend regularly enough and too fast, there is absolutley a chance of possible "bending" ()
I'm not saying this is what has happened, but it most certainly can!

Check with DAN and let us know.

SF

 

[harleyxx]

I just got off the phone with DAN. The medic I talked to said that under the circumstances there is virtually no way my body could have absorbed enough nitrogen to cause DCS. But he suggested that I get to my DR ASAP and gave me the Number for Florida Hospital. They have a unit that is set up for dive related plroblems.

The medic said that they handle about 1000 cases a year and the data just doesn't support DCS under such circumstances.

Thanks for the responces prompting me to call DAN. That helped me rule out that possibility.

I never get sick, I havent missed a day of work in 27 years, so this extreme pain out of the blue is baffling me.

 

[Geoff_H]

Guys getting bent in a pool is a very real possibility and has happened in the past.
If you spent over an hour in the pool and you ascend and descend regularly enough and too fast, there is absolutley a chance of possible "bending" ()

I don't really think this is true. You simply don't dissolve enough nitrogen into your bloodsteam at less than 3 metres deep. Even if you pop to the surface quickly, there will not be enough bubbles coming out of solution to cause even subclinical DCS.

However, there is a definite chance of barotrauma (lung or other air space over expansion) which can be extremely nasty. However this is not "the bends" and would not explain the symptoms of the OP.