Hot showers post dive= getting bent??

[erparamedic]

Hi.... I have a question, mainly because I've heard conflicting info on this topic.

Many times, I see places advertise that they have hot showers after your dive(s). For example, Dive Quest at Epcot mentions this.... the Nekton live aboards mention this... and there's many more.

However... My Mom (an avid diver) knows a lady that swears she got bent by taking a hot shower post dive. The dive was less than 50 ft, and was a conservative profile... from what I hear.

Can you advise on whether or not it's ok to take a hot shower post dive? I will be doing the Dive Quest at Epcot in 10 days, and would like to know about the hot shower. I understand the water there is 76 degrees and we will be wearing their shorty... and that translates to me being cold! If it's ok... I'd really love to have that hot shower afterwards! Or should I stick to a moderately warm shower?

 

[Rick Murchison]

Hi.... I have a question, mainly because I've heard conflicting info on this topic.

Many times, I see places advertise that they have hot showers after your dive(s). For example, Dive Quest at Epcot mentions this.... the Nekton live aboards mention this... and there's many more.

However... My Mom (an avid diver) knows a lady that swears she got bent by taking a hot shower post dive. The dive was less than 50 ft, and was a conservative profile... from what I hear.

Can you advise on whether or not it's ok to take a hot shower post dive? I will be doing the Dive Quest at Epcot in 10 days, and would like to know about the hot shower. I understand the water there is 76 degrees and we will be wearing their shorty... and that translates to me being cold! If it's ok... I'd really love to have that hot shower afterwards! Or should I stick to a moderately warm shower?

It's a threshold thing.
While on the grand scheme of things the temperature rise from a "hot" shower as a function of absolute temperature isn't much, it is measurable, and has some effect on the formation/growth of bubbles in the tissues warmed, if you're already right there at the "nearly clinical but not quite" level.
In other words, there's not much chance of a hot shower hurting you most of the time, but there's a theoretical chance that it could exacerbate an already touchy situation. I personally don't worry about it most of the time, but if I've been on a dive that's anywhere remotely close to the edge of the envelope, I stay away from the hot tub for a few hours.
As for the case you mention, a "dive less than 50'" doesn't say much without knowing how much diving was done before that one, and what the whole profile was on that one.
The Epcot dive is pretty benign, and I wouldn't worry about it in my case.
- I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV, so I'm just telling you what I'd do, not what you should do. -
Rick

 

[erparamedic]

Thanks Rick. What you said is pretty much what I was thinking, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

As for the lady that says she got bent after the hot shower... all my info was at the very least second-hand. I wasn't there.

 

[Fordan]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2800052&dopt=Citation

Although both the cold and warm air exposures (3 h postdecompression) were uneventful, a hot shower taken by the subjects on completion of the cold air exposure (6 h postdecompression) precipitated mild type I symptoms of decompression sickness. These symptoms were not present after a hot shower following the warm air exposure. The present results indicate that despite the assumed greater inert gas solubility of tissues expected during cold air exposure, the decrease in the perfusion may have played a more significant role in the observed levels of detectable venous gas bubbles. Development of type I symptoms following a 12-h saturation, a 3-h cold exposure, and a subsequent hot shower suggests that a rapid rise in peripheral temperature may cause a significant rise in tissue gas tension.

So if the water/air is cool enough that you'd want a hot shower, you probably shouldn't take one.

 

[DandyDon]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2800052&dopt=Citation


So if the water/air is cool enough that you'd want a hot shower, you probably shouldn't take one.

IF you went Deco or close, yeah. Cold water encourages more bubble formation, and a hot shower would encourage rapid release. Drink hot liquid, dry off, put on a coat.

 

[MSilvia]

If you're going to get bent, get bent at Disney World. Your lawyer will love you for it.

Seriously though, it isn't likely to be a problem unless you're already more saturated than you ought to be after a single dive within recreational limits.

 

[mikerault]

Gee, since I got my dry suit I haven't needed a hot shower to warm up after a set of dives...

Mike

 

[Gene_Hobbs]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2800052&dopt=Citation

Just a reminder that PDF's of the Undersea Biomedical Research (UBR) articles have been made available by the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) online at the Rubicon Research Repository (RRR).

http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/
Effect of peripheral temperature on the formation of venous gas bubbles.
Mekjavic and Kakitsuba
PubMed ID# 2800052, RRR ID# 2517

 

[erparamedic]

Thanks for all the replies. Believe me... I'm not EVER planning on getting bent. I dive very conservatively, and NEVER push the limits. I just thought that what I had heard about hot showers and getting bent was interesting and thought it was a worthwhile question to ask.

I believe I will take a moderately warm shower after the dive at Disney! Just to play it extra safe!

Thanks all!

 

[redrover]

Would there be a considerable difference between rinsing off at the back of a boat vs indoors enclosed in a hot steamy shower stall?