Tingling in fingers MULTIPLE times after diving in very different conditions. Thoughts?

[PeskyMonkey]

Hey guys! So I'm a pretty new diver. I'm AOW and own my own gear. I'm located in NYC.
I have been to depths as great as 110 feet multiple times with no problems (Spiegel grove in FL).
I recently completed my PADI drysuit class. My 3rd and final dive was to 30 feet for 35 minutes.

There was very little swimming going on. I was mostly just practicing my buoyancy and trim while completing skills. Water temp was around 58 degrees under the thermocline, and I was definitely underdressed and cold (I have since bought more appropriate undergarments).

When I surfaced from this dive, which was the second of the day, I immediately noticed tingling in my fingers in both hands. I became on alert and began immediately examining for other symptoms, but the tingling went away in around 8 minutes. I have dove in the exact same gear configuration (with appropriate undergarments) 5 times since then, and have not experienced this again in the drysuit.

Last night I did an ocean dive in NYC. I used a 5mm wetsuit and the water was 76 degrees. I spent 69 minutes at an average depth of 11 feet, max of 17.

The same thing happened. I had tingling in all of my fingers, both hands. No other symptoms, and this vanished after around 5-10 minutes.

I initially though this could be DCS relate, but the likelyhood of 2 DCS incidents and such low depths and manifesting in EXACTLY the same symptoms seems extremely unlikely. On the other hand, my gear setup and water temps were completely different between the dives and I cannot find a common link.

Does anyone have any advice/ ideas?

 

[Jcp2]

What are you using for gloves? Are your hands really cold?

 

[PeskyMonkey]

What are you using for gloves? Are your hands really cold?

I use 5mm gloves when diving in the wetsuit and 7mm in the drysuit. When I was in 76 degree water with the 5mm, my hands were definitely not cold but in the 58 degree with 7mm, they were quite cold.

 

[Subcooled]

I was definitely underdressed and cold [...] When I surfaced from this dive [...] I immediately noticed tingling in my fingers in both hands.

I have experienced that tingling (and burning) hundreds of times both on dry land and while diving. It's when your fingers start to warm up and blood circulation comes back. You might experience something similar in your toes too and the ball of the foot might be numb and white. You might experience a burning feeling too.

 

[Subcooled]

Thicker wet gloves or wet three finger mittens with some wool underneath might help.

 

[Boarderguy]

I use 5mm gloves when diving in the wetsuit and 7mm in the drysuit. When I was in 76 degree water with the 5mm, my hands were definitely not cold but in the 58 degree with 7mm, they were quite cold.

Could be that your gloves are too tight (wrist cuff or elastic band) at the wrist limiting blood flow. This could contribute to your hands tingling as well as being cold. I wear 5mm in 45-50° (purely subjective to the individual) and am fine up to about an hour.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Jazz hands!!!!

 

[boulderjohn]

The true cause may have nothing to do with diving.

During most of the year, I travel about 400 miles about once a month and do a 2 or 3 day weekend of heavy duty diving. On many occasions my fingers would tingle by the last day and for the first few days after. It got bad enough that it would involve the entire arm and make sleeping difficult. It sounded a lot like DCS, but I was sure it was not because I could it relieve it temporarily by something as simple as letting my arm hang limp. That would not relieve DCS. Additionally, I would sometimes have the problem when I had not been diving at all.

To cut to the end of the story, it turned out to be carpal tunnel syndrome. When I had carpal tunnel surgery, the symptoms went away for good. The problem was not caused by my diving--it was caused by all the tank hauling I was doing those weekends.

A couple years ago, I mentioned this in another thread, and renowned diving medicine expert Dr. Simon Mitchell said that many a case of carpal tunnel syndrome has been mistaken for DCS and treated in a chamber. In another thread, someone posted something from DAN about people being mistakenly treated for DCS when in fact that have nerve problems related to spinal stenosis.

Just yesterday I was talking about symptoms very much like yours with a friend who, like you, is struggling to find a diagnosis. This person has never been diving.

I of course am not a doctor and could not diagnose your situation over the internet if I were, but you might want to investigate other causes for the trouble.

 

[Esprise Me]

I get tingly fingers too sometimes after diving. I haven't sought medical attention because I believe in my case, it's due to cold. I've never been concerned about DCS in large part because it only seems to happen when I dive shallow. My local waters range from a high of mid-70s on the surface at the peak of the season to the low-mid 50s at depth year-round. I hate the loss of dexterity, so I only wear very thin (~1mm) gloves. I usually wear a 7mm wetsuit and hood for single, often shallow beach dives, and a drysuit for deep/repetitive boat dives. My hands get cold, of course, but I don't typically experience discomfort as a result, the way I do if my ears get cold. All my dives are single-tank and within NDL, so deep dives only last 30-45 minutes. Shallow dives can easily last twice as long. On a recent dive that was over an hour and a half, my hands became so numb toward the end that, when I pulled out my Trilobyte to cut some fishing line that was tangled in the rocks and kelp, I had trouble stuffing the tool back into its holster. Again, I wasn't uncomfortable, but I did get tingly back on land as I warmed up.

I suppose you could try diving with one glove to see if that produces different sensations in your hands.

 

[kelemvor]

I've had kind of the opposite of @boulderjohn's experience. I had the tingling and numbness intermittently in my hands. Went to a doc and got diagnosed with carpal tunnel. Got some of the electroshock therapy they prescribed (basically tens at high power hooked to my wrists - just say NO). Later I found out that I didn't have carpal tunnel at all. I had a smashed and nearly severed spinal cord because of a genetic defect causing my spinal canal to be smaller than normal combined with a herniated disc.

I guess my point is there's probably 50 causes for hand tingling and numbness ranging from simply being cold to serious spine problems and various things in-between. Go see your doc and ask what he thinks. If he tries to electrocute you, get a second opinion .