Drysuit squeeze and Bloodpressure

[DocVikingo]

Hi ScubaSteve2000,

I agree with Cutlass and TSandM that drysuit "squeeze" in and of itself is a very minor concern. The other issues they raise are almost certainly of more significance as regards increases in BP.

If you're still concerned, assiduously stay on top of appropriate suit equalization both on descent and ascent. That will make you more comfortable, too.

Regards,

DocVikingo

This is educational only and does not constitute or imply a doctor-patient relationship. It is not medical advice to you or any other individual, and should not be construed as such.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I'm just getting into diving dry. I was wondering if there has been any research from DAN or some other organization on how drysuit squeeze affects blood pressure. I'd have to guess that my blood pressure goes up when I'm experiencing squeeze. If a diver already had high blood pressure are there any health risks?

There are probably a lot of influences in diving that are more apt to raise your blood pressure than the degree of squeeze in your drysuit. Cold, anxiety, elevated carbon dioxide levels, and exertion are all factors that can raise blood pressure. Suit squeeze is only likely to very modestly increase peripheral vascular resistance in the skin and limbs. Since getting cold does this anyway, I'm not sure how much the suit could add to it. I don't think you have to worry about dry suit versus wetsuit diving, as far as your blood pressure is concerned.

I just want to point out that the OP did not ask whether he should worry about drysuit squeeze increasing his blood pressure (BP). He asked whether there were any health risks associated with drysuit squeeze in the setting of pre-existing hypertension. In a previous post (that was deleted I guess), I mentioned that hypertension should be properly managed so that BP is normalized. If BP is managed within normal limits, then it's unlikely that drysuit squeeze would cause an increase in BP of great consequence. However, uncontrolled hypertension in and of itself presents health risks regardless of whether the person is diving or not. I then listed some of the complications of hypertension.

[Edited Later: Must have been an issue on my end. The post wasn't deleted. It's there now. Very weird. Perhaps I loaded the webpage just as it was being merged.]

 

[DocVikingo]

...In a previous post (that was deleted I guess), I mentioned that hypertension should be properly managed so that BP is normalized. If BP is managed within normal limits, then it's unlikely that drysuit squeeze would cause an increase in BP of great consequence. However, uncontrolled hypertension in and of itself presents health risks regardless of whether the person is diving or not. I then listed some of the complications of hypertension.

Hi bubbletrouble,

The only posts that are intentionally deleted are those that violate board TOS.

Are you sure it's not still around?

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[TSandM]

Turns out no posts were deleted, but there were two threads on this topic running simultaneously, so I merged them.

Even in the setting of preexisting hypertension, I do not believe drysuit squeeze is of concern. If one is diving a suit even halfway properly, it's never going to get insanely tight (and I'm not sure how much even that would change BP). Diving with uncontrolled hypertension is a bad idea, as uncontrolled hypertension is generally a bad idea, but that isn't what the OP asked, I don't think.

My medical opinion, based on no data but reasonable inferences: If you have adequately treated hypertension, you should not fear the use of a dry suit.

 

[Thalassamania]

This reminded me of my 1st dry suit a UniSuit it had an
LP and a oral inflator.

To the best of my memory the UNISUIT never had an oral inflator, the later model JETSUIT, also made by Poseidon did, however, have an oral inflator.

I always thought it was a good idea as you had an alternate method of inflation and the warm air of your breath inflating the suit was nice. We rely entirely too much on mechanical / auto functions these days IMO.

A lot of early suits had oral inflators, the major problem was the possibility of a shot of cold water along with the, "warm air of your breath." How did you solve this problem?

I have high blood pressure I don't know of any difference.

I don't however allow much suit squeeze and try to stay ahead of it. The reverse is true also, staying ahead of the expanding air in the suit during ascent. That's the only time I allow any suit squeeze. Just before starting my ascent I vent enough air to just start feeling a squeeze, then begin going up. If your going to use a BC then this becomes more important as you have dual buoyancy devices. If your just using the suit for BC then less venting would be appropriate before ascent. It's not hard, I got my 1st one before there were dry suit classes, and even I was able to figure it out.

As I think about it the problem would not likely be suit squeeze, but rather a potentially different carotid sinus response in hypertensives. Anyone put there with a thought or information on that?

 

[AfterDark]

To the best of my memory the UNISUIT never had an oral inflator, the later model JETSUIT, also made by Poseidon did, however, have an oral inflator.

A lot of early suits had oral inflators, the major problem was the possibility of a shot of cold water along with the, "warm air of your breath." How did you solve this problem?
?

I had both at different times so I'll stand corrected. I did like it and never experienced a "rush" of water, but I would notice a wet spot on my undergarment on the chest where the inlet was, when I did use it. I'd purge the hose a couple of times before I inflated it maybe the extra effort cut down on the water intake?

 

[Thalassamania]

I got an early JETSUIT to augment my rather bulky UNISUIT. The water through the inflator issue was so bothersome that I replaced the valves on it with valves from a defunct UNISUIT and had some boots attached to it. Worked great then.

 

[ScubaSteve2000]

Thanks to everybody who answered and added to this thread. I had every confidence that the knowlege base on Scubaboard would answer my question. First off, I don't have high blood pressure. My original thought and question centered on if suit squeeze would cause an artificial increase in blood pressure. As has been suggested I did a little reading up on the subject. I decided to see if changes in atmospheric pressure caused changes in BP. What I found out ranged from slightly to not at all.

After reading the sage advice from the folks and doing some noodling of my own it became pretty clear that the pressure on my body in a properly inflated dry suit vs a wet suit is really the same (at depth). The pressure inside the suit should equal the pressure of the water. Less and I would experience suit squeeze. More and I would probably be on the positive side of bouyancy.

That leads me to the original reason for my concern. Being a dry suit newby I'm still working on my bouyancy, especially when ascending. I'm figuring out to vent my suit a bit before starting up. My suit has a cuff dump so the "look up, reach up, swim up" makes venting the suit a natural motion. I'm still over venting and over filling for bouyancy control but I'm developing a "feel" for when and how much to vent.

It took me about 100 dives to really feel comfortable about my bouyancy control in a wet suit. It'll probably take me another 100 to get it down all over again. Maybe not though. The physical cues are more obvious now.

Again, thanks for your help.