Can only dive 50ft, is it worth it?

[agilis]

Check with DAN, for sure. Most MDs know little or nothing about SCUBA or the relevant technology and physiology. Dan can provide accurate information. I doubt that pressure is an issue, though precautions related to lung scarring might be something you need to investigate just to be on the safe side.

Diving in less than 50 feet can be absolutely wonderful. If I had to choose only one, either deep dives or shallow, there is no doubt whatsoever I'd opt for shallow. Good luck.

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

Did you mention to your doctor you were going to be SCUBA diving? I sounds like he thought you would be free-diving, where you how hold your breath and dive down, then resurface. In SCUBA diving, you are breathing air at ambient pressure, no matter how deep you go, and there will be no pressure on your rib cage. You may want to get a second opinion from your doctor, after you've explained that to him or her. Also have him contact Divers Alert Network (DAN). They have tons of medical information concerning diving.

If you dive in places where the bottom is 50 feet or less, there will still lots of things to see. In addition, your air lasts longer when you are shallower, and the light is better, as well.

I highly recommend you have your "bone dr" contact DAN.

Good luck,

Ron

Gotta disagree a bit. We do equalize our ears at any depth, but there is increased pressure the deeper we go. A saturation diver I know took a McDonalds, styrofoam, coffee cup to depth 600'. It came back the size of a shot glass. Neoprene wet-suits become hard over time as the neoprene compresses. It is light at the surface and gets heavy at depth on each dive due to pressure. Over time the cells stay crushed and we get cold because there is no insulation left. Our body is the same. Sat divers have suffered from the effects of pressure through necrosis (sp?) of the joints. At extreme depth divers use "Jim Suits" because the pressure would crush a human. JIM suit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Having said that, recreational depths would not likely cause a lot of problems because we are 60% water and the pressure exerted at recreational depths would probably not be an issue for said ribcage. Still, some food for thought.

 

[XxMerlinxX]

The only pressure I feel around my ribs is normally from my wetsuit being too tight, I haven't been going to the gym like I should.

 

[agilis]

I'm no expert, but most of the human body is relatively incompressible. The air in our lungs is delivered by scuba at ambient pressure by a regulator which matches the pressure of the compressed breathing gas to external pressure at depth, equalizing the two so that there is no pressure differential at all. If the styrofoam cup had a regulator for all its air bubbles it would have been fine. There is no relevance at all in the tragic experience of that helpless cup to what the human body experiences while scuba diving.

 

[oly5050user]

Sorry to burst any hopes here BUT if a student came to me and had a medical form from the doctor that placed ANY type of limitations on it I could not accept him/her in a class. Too much risk to student and myself to do so. Most responsible instructors will do exactly the same thing. All I want to see on the medical release is that the doctor checked of the correct box .If he writes anything other than " he sees no reason for this individual to participate in scuba diving" this person is not getting into a responsible instructors class. For instructors unsure call your insurance agency and see what they say.
I have had medical releases come in saying "Johnny: can only dive to less than 40' or cannot dive in cold water ..Sorry but that individual is not getting into a class. Get a doctor that truly understands diving and see what he/she says.

 

[flots am]

Hey guys so I had a major injury last year in which 3 of my ribs are titanium now on my left side, I also lost 20% of my left lung, and a lot of other stuff. I really wanted to start diving because its something I have been wanting to do for years but just have not gotten around to it, now at this point in my life I am back in the shape I was in before my injury and I'm 22 about to be 23 so I am still pretty young. First things first yes I went and got cleared by my dr.'s before I even decided to make this thread. My bone dr told me that I can only dive 50ft or a little over it but no more because of the pressure it will put on my rib cage. I still want to dive but idk if you can really see a lot at that depth. Please give me some info on what I can expect at that depth. Thank You
Nick

The first thing I'd like to say is that there's a ton of fantastic stuff above 50'.

The second thing I'd like to say is that you should call diver's Alert Network for a referral to a diving doc in your area for a second opinion. There is no more pressure on your rib cage @50' than there is at 10' or 100'. The second stage of your regulator balances the ambient (water) pressure with the air pressure in your lungs, resulting on a pressure differential very close to zero.

There may be other reasons he recommended staying shallow, and I'm not a doctor, but the reason you gave doesn't actually match the physics involved, so you should probably get it clarified.

flots.

 

[Jax]

will DAN talk to me even though I'm not a member? I'm in class right now so I can't call right now.

YES! Dan will talk to everyone. They will also advise you of a pulmonary or maybe even a bone doc who is familiar with diving medicine.

 

[Darnold9999]

You are getting great advice here. However it is an Internet forum so you are getting what you paid for.

Talk to the experts - DAN. If you are really serious about diving you might want to have your "bone dr" contact DAN or talk to the expert they suggest. Your Dr knows more about you and your specific issues than the DAN specialist will and communication between them may be needed to clarify exactly what issues your Dr is concerned about. 50 feet as a pressure limitation does not make sense to me. Seems more like a round number than a specific pressure you want to avoid. (or he/she is trying to keep you above 60 feet with a 10 foot margin for error)

In any event most of my diving is around 60 feet. If I had to stay at 50 or less, would not bother me at all (well ... much - there is always the neat creature just beyond whatever limit you have).

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I have just come back from diving in Hawaii, where half our dives were in the 30-40 feet depth range, and it was beautiful. Lots of action with turtles, white tip reef sharks, colorful fish, and pretty corals. The Florida keys offers the same with more color and different animals. It is definuitely worth diving even if limited to 50 feet. Go for it!
DivemasterDennis

 

[reo]

Gotta disagree a bit. We do equalize our ears at any depth, but there is increased pressure the deeper we go. A saturation diver I know took a McDonalds, styrofoam, coffee cup to depth 600'. It came back the size of a shot glass. Neoprene wet-suits become hard over time as the neoprene compresses. It is light at the surface and gets heavy at depth on each dive due to pressure. Over time the cells stay crushed and we get cold because there is no insulation left. Our body is the same. Sat divers have suffered from the effects of pressure through necrosis (sp?) of the joints. At extreme depth divers use "Jim Suits" because the pressure would crush a human. JIM suit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Having said that, recreational depths would not likely cause a lot of problems because we are 60% water and the pressure exerted at recreational depths would probably not be an issue for said ribcage. Still, some food for thought.

Spd,

I have to disagree that our bodies are the same as neoprene or Styrofoam. Neoprene and Styrofoam have a large amount of air cells throughout the material, and this air can't be equalized, so yes, the neoprene is compressed under pressure, and the styrofoam is crushed under pressure.

For recreational dives, the real issue is the pressure differential between the water pressure outside your body and the pressure inside your body. If you equalize often, you won't feel the pressure, because the pressure inside you is equal to the pressure outside.

Nick,

As your learning to dive, your instructor will teach you how to properly equalize, so the pressure at depth won't hurt your ears or sinuses. You'll learn that with SCUBA, you are supposed to breathe and never hold your breath, so your lungs will also be equalized. When you have your OW cert, you'll be certified to dive to depths up to (down to?) 60 feet.

Ron