Is it painful?

[pasley]

You have asked a good question. Because I grew up watching Lloyd Bridges rolling in pain on every episode with the bends, I did not recognize the symptoms when I took my hit and delayed treatment two days.

My first hit was minor, not sure if I feel anything ache in the ankle, this progressed to hmm, that feels odd. Scale of 1-10 (10 worst pain ever) this was a 1 or 2. The next week after diving again (with doctors ill advised OK) I drove two days later to 1400 feet elevation and took my second (this was 4 years ago) hopefully last hit this time with pain in the knee. That time the pain was, ouch, this hurts and I do mean hurts. Scale of 1-10 (10 worst pain ever) this was a 7.

Bottom line is each hit is different and may present different symptoms which is part of why DCS is so difficult to recognize, tired, sore, numb? Could be many things from just tired, to old age to a hit.

Dive safe and hydrated. But nothing can guarentee you will never be a victum of DCS. But you can reduce the risk.

 

[rawls]

I have read several books that talk about over expansion injuries. The question I have is...are you talking about overexpansion or a nitrogen hit. Nitrogen hits may be severely painful or just aggravating. A person may ahve a sore shoulder and think he or she pulled a muscle where, in fact, it was a nitrogen hit. There are several books I have read that tell about divers that had nitrogen hits. Read the story of Jean-Pierre Bouillon in Dark Descent by Kevin McMurray. His diving career was ended by a getting severely bent. Someone wrote about Crissy Rouse. I cannot imagine the pain he experienced. Luckily his father didn't have to go through it. With an arterial embolism you usually don't have to worry about the pain. Overexansion injuries...well, if you survive, chest tube placement hurts like hell.