Nerve pain at depth? Reversed symptoms of DCS?

[EricTheDood]

Background: my wife has had a history of mild pain in one wrist. It was never broken, just sprained in the past, maybe more than once. Pain also comes and goes after extended time on the computer, like when preparing annual budget reports at work. Maybe it's the onset of carpal tunnel but it hasn't been clinically diagnosed.

She is relatively new to diving and her deepest dive so far has been at 65' for just a few minutes. During OW training, her max depth was 40'. She hasn't come close to the no deco limit and has always done a 3 minute safety stop.

On two occasions, including OW training, she experienced a sharp pain in the aforementioned wrist at depths below 30', specifically on or after the second dive, which went away about a minute into the 3-min safety stop. She was pain free on the first dive. There was no pain by the time she surfaced and she was perfectly fine after getting out of the water.

Is anyone familiar with something like this? Is the pressure at depth pinching a nerve? Seems like a difficult problem to diagnose because she's essentially symptom-free out of the water. In both instances after the first dive, she had to pull herself out of the water. The first time was on a handrail climbing up concrete steps. The second time was up a ladder onto a boat. She didn't experience pain as a direct result of that, but maybe it tweaked the wrist just enough?

 

[PfcAJ]

My initial thought goes to something with the gear. Tight bc straps, wrist mounted computer, wetsuit, something like that.

 

[Steve_C]

Every once in a while I feel a sharp pain in my left wrist if I turn it the wrong way. Does not always happen. Maybe once a week. It could be that at depth she subconsciously holds her wrist funny or clenches her inflator hose. I have no problem lifting tanks or getting on or off the boat. But there is something in the joint/tendons that catches or cramps. Who knows after 70 years of abuse.

 

[Bob DBF]

While diving one gets in positions that are not usual on the surface, this may exerstabate an otherwise minor issue.

It's time to diagnose the issue and then its relationship to diving. You don't want to try to diagnose that issue and DCS at the same time when your wife winds up too close to, or over, NDL. Being old and beat up, I keep close track of my aches and pains for that very reason.


Good luck

Bob

 

[KeithG]

maybe she has a nerve problem?

i have bone spurs in my neck that "pinch" nerves. symptoms are sporadic numbness or tingling or sharp pain in my right arm. nothing wrong with my arm, it is my neck that is the problem.

i am normally symptom free, but symptoms may be randomly triggered by various activities: sleeping with my head in a stupid position, sitting in an uncomfortable airplane seat, getting crushed into the boards at hockey, watching tv while lying on a couch, diving into a swimming pool,...

if the issue is nerve related, the problem point is not necessarily in her wrist.

 

[Stoo]

I had severe Carpel Tunnel Syndrome in both wrists. Drysuit wrist seals were killers... It took a few weeks to figure that out. I was running a piece of aquarium tubing under the seal to allow air into my drygloves. That tubing was the problem, and the pain didn't occur if I moved that tubing to the back of my wrist.

Mine was so severe that my forearms would be absolutely in spasms from the pain. The first time it happened I thought I had some weird type of bilateral bend, but knew the symptoms weren't correct. I solved the problem by trimming the wrist seals and by carefully positioning the tubing.

I have since had surgery on both wrists which was helpful. I also use a different drysuit with a bayonet wrist cuff, so I stopped using wrist seals.

Presumably you are in a wetsuit, but a tight wrist, or a watch or bracelet under your suit could account for it too...

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

Good answers above. Also consider that she's lifting heavy weights and may be injuring the wrist while donning her tank/BC/weights. If you rule out tight items on the wrist and positional issues, she may be experiencing compression pains. They're better-documented in saturation divers but not unheard of at shallow depths.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[EricTheDood]

Thanks for the replies.

The first time she was in a 7mm wetsuit, no wrist computer, multiple dives at 45 ft depth. The second time she was in 81 degree water, no wetsuit, but was wearing a wrist computer at 60 ft depth.

We were cautious after the 2nd time. We did another dive where we reached 95 ft and the pain was immediate. So we cut the dive short and slowly ascended. The next dive was completely pain free as the bottom was only 28 ft.

We'll have to do some poking and prodding to see what's going on.