Did I take a minor hit?

[ggunn]

A few days ago I dove long and deep at Cozumel's Punta Sur Cathedral site. I went briefly into the red on my computer, but I did what it told me to do and came up in the green. For our second dive we went to Colombia Shallows (max depth 30 feet), and a little ways into the dive I noticed that one side of the index finger of my right hand was numb. I thought maybe that I had been squeezing the switch on my dive light, but I shifted my grip and the finger stayed numb. It finally "woke up" rather suddenly about 2 hours after I noticed the numbness; by that time I was back at the hotel.

I had no other symptoms, and as it was the last dive of my vacation and I had over 24 hours of "time to fly" time, I didn't worry about it too much. However, since I've always been advised to watch for tingling/numbness as signs of DCS, it did cause me to wonder. I've never had any experience with DCS, either personally or proximally, so I don't know what it feels like.

 

[DandyDon]

Yeah, I've been red there before. I've never been able to get my PDC back into the green once going red. You don't list your gear on your profile; what computer do you dive?

I'm so not qualified to comment on your question, but I wonder if you had been chilled on or before that dive? Did you dive Air both of them?

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Gordon,

Based on the description, a DCS-related event does not appear to reasonably account for the symptom:

1. DCS typically does not appear during a dive unless one is close to the surface and has made an improper ascent, e.g., too fast, existing deco obligation. It would be quite atypical for a symptom of DCS to manifest at or around 30' when that was the max depth for the dive and nothing was unusual about the dive profile.

2. It would extraordinary for the sole symptom to be numbness limited to one side of the index finger of the right hand. It is prudent to "watch for tingling/numbness as signs of DCS" as DAN's research does in fact establish that such sensations are the most common feature of DCS. However, this does not present only on one side of an index finger.

Helpful?

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice.

 

[ggunn]

Hi Gordon,

Based on the description, a DCS-related event does not appear to reasonably account for the symptom:

1. DCS typically does not appear during a dive unless one is close to the surface and has made an improper ascent, e.g., too fast, existing deco obligation. It would be quite atypical for a symptom of DCS to manifest at or around 30' when that was the max depth for the dive and nothing was unusual about the dive profile.

2. It would extraordinary for the sole symptom to be numbness limited to one side of the index finger of the right hand. It is prudent to "watch for tingling/numbness as signs of DCS" as DAN's research does in fact establish that such sensations are the most common feature of DCS. However, this does not present only on one side of an index finger.

Helpful?

Yes, thanks. That's what I thought.