You probably know several divers who have had DCS. Because there is a you must be a bad diver stigma (underserved I might add as stuff sometimes does just happen) many are reluctant to talk about it. Ask you dive partners if they have ever been bent. You may be surprised at the answer.
DCS feels like any symptom you are experiencing. The experience will vary depending on where the bubble is, size of bubble and number of bubbles. If it is in a joint or against a nerve or spine or brain.
My symptom, a very minor, as in if you were doing anything or even just having a conversation, you would not notice it, ache in my ankle the next day. I had gotten knocked down by a wave and chalked it up to that
. at first. 36 hours after the dive the discomfort (could not really call it a pain) did grow in intensity and moved into my calf with a, thats not too bad but I would not want to live with that for the rest of my life pins and need thing.
One week later, after a shallow dive (Doc said wait 7 days), it became apparent that I was not fully over the first DCS and I had another bout. Drove to 1,400 feet elevation 48hours after the dive and this time there was pain as in let me get your attention pain. Not Lloyd Bridges (Sea Hunt) rolling around on the deck pain (as he did in every episode), but a hmmm, let me rub my knee and calf that does not feel good pain.
Bottom line, the symptoms can be anything including: Paralysis, Tingling, numbness, Fuzzy foggy brain feeling, sharp pain, vague pain, iching, rash, to anything else. So if you feel anything that is not normal following a dive, it is time to call DAN and get an expert to look at you.
lostinspace:
ok - but how do you know it is not just muscle strain?
You dont. That is why a qualified dive medicine professional needs to look at it. Note I said qualified dive medicine professional. The clowns in the emergency room had no clue what DCS or DCI or the Bends was and, since I was not bleeding or having cardiac arrest, put me in a room off to the side and forgot about me for four hours while the decompression chamber doctor kept calling down looking for me. Unfortunately, the hospital rules required me to go through the emergency room and get a chest x-ray to ensure there was no blockage in the lungs before my chamber ride. But there staff there was clueless and I was in denial and did not stress that I was a potentially serious case and time was the enemy.
lostinspace:
What does happen if someone just ignores it? Do symptoms worsen or get better?
The doctors and other experts will chime in here on this I am sure. But from a laymans point of view: The longer you wait for treatment the lower the odds of a 100% cure are. You are risking lifelong paralysis or worse if you ignore it! Symptoms will often get worse as the bubble against the nerve continues to deny the nerve blood and oxygen eventually killing the nerve. Depending on where the bubble is (joint, skin or nerve), and the severity of the hit your symptoms could improve (in very mild cases this could happen) over time or get worse (more normally the case). But the risk is paralysis or death if the bubble moves to the wrong place. DCS is not the place for self-treatment. Bottom line, if you even ask the question is this DCS, call a professional!
In my case, I waited 36 hours to seek treatment. Foot was tingling for almost 2 years after and that could have been avoided with prompt treatment. I was lucky.