Painful Throat/Chest Spasms

[Coopladoop]

Hello all!

I wanted to start by saying thank you to all the members of this board. Some years ago a few concerned posts of mine were responded to with very educated, and helpful replies that helped a great deal. So thank you to everyone!

I'd like to now ask the opinion of the community as to what I describe below might be, how to avoid it in the future, and if possible how to expedite it's effects!


While doing some work at the bottom in our staple marina (~20ft down or so) yesterday I noticed an anomaly I've had occur before- but decided to push through this time. The best way I can describe it is the sensation just before you burp, except in this case the burp never arrives, and the feeling is significantly intensified. It started somewhat small in intensity, and grew to a point I considered alarming and decided to surface for a breather.

Since then, it was a somewhat long night. While hoofing the day's dive tanks back to the truck, whenever my head tilted beyond parallel with the horizon/down towards my feet, and in painful spasms that grew throughout the night- this feeling would appear. In a way, it felt how I imagine trapped air in some small tubular structure of the body might feel, but at its worst it also felt as if a hand was squeezing some part of my throat/upper chest area. There was also a great deal of sensitivity precisely at the spot a pulse would be taken at the throat, but only on one side. Pressing the identical area on the other side was without any discomfort at all. Swallowing was painful, and after some hours breathing became painful too, the feeling propogating down my chest. An emergency ice pack and ensemble of pills allowed sleep to win over, and now here in the morning all discomfort has substantially subsided.

However the work is not done, not by a long shot, and I'm very concerned about a repeat of this incident.


Alongside my own research, I'd value hearing thoughts of the reader on what might be happening here if so obliged- and doubly so if anyone has experienced something similar.

A final note of context, the mask I use in diving is a full-face medium-duty setup by Ocean Reef, part of their GDivers line I believe. Another coworker gave the mask a go yesterday and noted the significant amount of "pull" force required with each inhale to trigger the release valve. There is an adjustment for this which allows some degree of assistance but there is speculation the issue is of a larger scale.
A silicone mouth/nose fitting was misplaced some time ago, which at its core functioned to change the volume of air the user was "pulling" against on inhale from that smaller contained region within the fitting, to now the entirety of the face mask without said fitting.

I felt as much a while ago but since then have gotten used to it. I'd wager there's 100 hours of time on the mask since this change, but never has the above issue surfaced with such intensity.

In summary then: The feeling of a "bubble" in the throat/upper chest- pain that comes in waves and when looking downwards. Could the lungs be damaged by having to pull too hard for air? Also should note that no physical swelling or lumps were observed, this one's a sneaky affliction seems!

Thank you for reading this everyone,

All the best.

 

[lexvil]

This is just my opinion; seeking medical advice on an Internet forum is akin to seeing if a gun is loaded by looking down the barrel and pulling the trigger.

 

[Coopladoop]

This is just my opinion; seeking medical advice on an Internet forum is akin to seeing if a gun is loaded by looking down the barrel and pulling the trigger.

Heyo Lex,

I might need to revise my earlier but, I'm wondering more if anyone has experienced something similar in the past/present- and what their outcome/experience was on the whole... less so medical advice proper!

Be that as it may you might have a point, but after events in the past I've found a combination of forum posts like these alongside solid internet searches tend to present a more full solution than consulting local doctors.

Might be the locale, the US Virgin Islands aren't especially known to be the bleeding edge of technology in the world I think! Few run ins of this type; some rookie/amateur diving practices years back led to an issue which the local ENT doctor persisted solving with rather costly wax-cleaning and some drying drop prescriptions for a while before a form of barotrauma was identified as the actual issue by a practitioner stateside. List goes on.

Short of it is, there are real people with real experiences here! I like that.

 

[lexvil]

Heyo Lex,

I might need to revise my earlier but, I'm wondering more if anyone has experienced something similar in the past/present- and what their outcome/experience was on the whole... less so medical advice proper!

Be that as it may you might have a point, but after events in the past I've found a combination of forum posts like these alongside solid internet searches tend to present a more full solution than consulting local doctors.

Might be the locale, the US Virgin Islands aren't especially known to be the bleeding edge of technology in the world I think! Few run ins of this type; some rookie/amateur diving practices years back led to an issue which the local ENT doctor persisted solving with rather costly wax-cleaning and some drying drop prescriptions for a while before a form of barotrauma was identified as the actual issue by a practitioner stateside. List goes on.

Short of it is, there are real people with real experiences here! I like that.

This coming February I hit 50 years since I started diving and I’m not one to run off to a doctor at some minor pain but this symptom of yours sounds pretty bad, bad enough that you started looking for more info, bad enough that I would probably DAN to ask where a dive doc can be located.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Along with the medical issues, the use of a FFM that has been modified/has a missing piece is an area that should not be overlooked. Changing the configuration of the mask and thereby the effort required to use it and "gotten used to it" is as clear a case of normalization of deviance as any.

 

[Coopladoop]

This coming February I hit 50 years since I started diving and I’m not one to run off to a doctor at some minor pain but this symptom of yours sounds pretty bad, bad enough that you started looking for more info, bad enough that I would probably DAN to ask where a dive doc can be located.

Congratulations on the anniv. Lex!

I wasn't familiar with DAN until just now, thank you for that- I'll see about signing up. To be honest, I'd hoped the effects would subside come morning- and they did. Had they not, and at the peak of the pain part way through the night I was considering possibly then as well; a trip down to the local sick bay was definitely in order.. but what I didn't stop to think about was that come the start of next work-week the effects need to be fully gone, and stay that way! At this rate of recovery I'm not certain that's going to be possible. For that reason alone might need to make the trek down to the hospital and see what's what.

 

[Coopladoop]

Along with the medical issues, the use of a FFM that has been modified/has a missing piece is an area that should not be overlooked. Changing the configuration of the mask and thereby the effort required to use it and "gotten used to it" is as clear a case of normalization of deviance as any.

Agreed wholly. As a particularly young male, with a few hundred hours on this version of the kit, the chance for an issue arising where it had not before seemed minimal. Seems not so much though, anymore eh? Darn shame.

Best theory I've got now as to why this time might be different is a substantial gap in dive work while doing a bit more on land with some remodel contracts for a few months there... lungs lost their oomph during the break? Smells funky though, last job in the water was back in Feb(10 month break), and the one before that over a year and change back. Same kit throughout it all.

 

[kelemvor]

I have an ocean reef FFM as well. I believe the missing piece you describe is to help ensure good air exchange. Without it you might be building up some extra co2. I've found that parts for my maks are reasonably priced from my local dive shop.

The suction problem sounds to me like the venturi adjust is broken or the first stage isn't supplying sufficient gas. My wife and I both have the opposite problem. If we don't crank down that adjust, then too much gas gets blown in and the mask will continually burp at the edges.

I don't know if either issue would cause the burping problem you describe. I think you really need to get your regulators fixed up by a tech.

 

[Coopladoop]

I have an ocean reef FFM as well. I believe the missing piece you describe is to help ensure good air exchange. Without it you might be building up some extra co2. I've found that parts for my maks are reasonably priced from my local dive shop.

The suction problem sounds to me like the venturi adjust is broken or the first stage isn't supplying sufficient gas. My wife and I both have the opposite problem. If we don't crank down that adjust, then too much gas gets blown in and the mask will continually burp at the edges.

I don't know if either issue would cause the burping problem you describe.

We've a strap from Ocean Reef on the way, most of the ruberized and silicone components are showing accelerated wear just from their limited exposure(kept indoors when not in use). Might have to see about getting the others on the way.

The adjustment on the perspective left side of the mask works great- do you find you get excessive venting when looking straight down? We've had to adjust it in realtime to cut off unwanted purging based on whether we're vertical/horizontal with respect to the ocean floor. Bit of pain that, but when she's full open it definitely helps with breathing a bit easier.

The stores I've checked with don't carry any of the components or compatible ones from this company sadly, thinking it's regional practicality/availability maybe- heck they've discontinued their re-inforced/kevlar line of gloves even, just down to the cotton variety which get torn up after a single day's work at the bottom hah

 

[kelemvor]

The adjustment on the perspective left side of the mask works great- do you find you get excessive venting when looking straight down? We've had to adjust it in realtime to cut off unwanted purging based on whether we're vertical/horizontal with respect to the ocean floor. Bit of pain that, but when she's full open it definitely helps with breathing a bit easier.

No, but I change positions a lot during a dive. Diving with the ffm means almost constant adjustment, and we still get considerably shorter dives than a normal reg. It's pretty obvious what we lose a lot of gas this way over the course of the dive, and it degrades the dive since it's a constant thing to manage. We decided to set them aside for a year and re-evaluate after being the first people back on the boat consistently.

To your point, if I'm looking straight down without moving then it's easy enough to adjust and be happy. If I need to look around to maintain situational awareness or communicate with my buddy/group then all bets are off.