Diving with back problems?

[DiverLS]

I have the same injury plus a "bubble" on L3-L4. But I do not have any nerve involvment.

On the airplane, tip your pelvis forward so you are sitting on the back of your butt. I sit that way all the time. That will protect the area. Lumbar support is NOT good. It arches your back.

I also stand with my pelvis forward. I can't stand for any period of time without doing that. I'm lucky, my Dr. is into sports medicine. When I injured my back he got me into thereapy right away so I could do one week in the Bahamas in a week. It worked.

It also appears you are using integrated weights. That's good. A weight belt arches the back the wrong way.

I also go to a gym and strengthen my "core" muscles. Multiple crunches on a slant board without arching my back, back strengthening exercises including the paraspinals. Go real easy on the back exercises, if you push it can do more harm that help. I'd recommend using a trainer for at least one session.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

FYI

I have read that people with problems such should not dive because the symptoms could make it difficult to differentiate between chronic sciatica and a new DCI type II hit.

Doc Harry makes a good point, Mayor.

The pain and tingling you feel in your leg could mask a DCS hit presenting with symptoms in the same area. What your sciatica does not do is increase the risk of a DCS hit. It just could complicate prompt diagnosis.

Only you can decide what is best, but the more information you have, the better you can make an "informed" decision about whether or not to dive.

If it were me, I'd do the dives, as outlined in my 1st post. Take it easy. No heavy lifting, have the boat crew help you, etc. Be very conservative with the dives you do. Don't "push it", either with depth/time or with difficulty of the dive.

One other point to consider, that I'd worry about more than DCS, is how much does your condition incapacitate you at it's worst? If you have a bad flare-up during travel, or on the dive boat, how bad is "bad"? Can you swim with your pain at it's max level? Could you get back up the boat ladder? Those are things to think about, and probably more of a real concern than DCS.

Just more stuff to consider, but I really hope you can do the dives.

Best wishes.

 

[NOVIZWHIZ]

Noted that you say you have this back pain "every year". Is it about this time of year? If so, sounds like your symptoms and mine are pretty similar..for me - and I'm speaking only for me - my major flare-ups come during the coldest part of the year when I'm LEAST active - as the spring and summer come around I'm pretty much okay. I had a very recent issue where I spent about 6 hours in a car on a trip and ma-an....ouch. In taking OTC meds, I screwed up my BP mds and BP went nuts - took me a day or two to figure out it was the OTC stuff, which never bothered me before.... (getting older I guess...sighhhhhh). Had one adjustment, took a few days off and good as ..well not new, but waa-aay better. What does concern me is the issues noted above - I don't deep dive - 35 ft is deep for me - so I don't have to worry TOO much about those problems.