Do organs compress whilst diving?
- Thread starter DrGonzo
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
ScubaInChicago
Contributor
The body is mostly water with connective tissue, so basically no. Although, at 100'/30m depth your respiratory performance is halved.
Carbon Dioxide, Narcosis, and Diving | Global Underwater Explorers
Carbon Dioxide, Narcosis, and Diving | Global Underwater Explorers
Last edited:
Kevrumbo
Banned
- Messages
- 5,659
- Reaction score
- 1,361
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
With regard to the Lungs -yes and no:
In free diving (breath hold), as a diver descends, his lungs decrease in size according to Boyle's Law. But this isn't the case when using scuba because a diver fills his lungs completely with every breath supplied by the regulator at ambient pressure.
In free diving (breath hold), as a diver descends, his lungs decrease in size according to Boyle's Law. But this isn't the case when using scuba because a diver fills his lungs completely with every breath supplied by the regulator at ambient pressure.
seeker242
Contributor
For the heart it's the opposite. Pressure on the extremities causes increased blood flow in the chest which expands the heart.
EricTheDood
Contributor
If the water at 30m is noticeably colder due to thermoclines, then yes, certain organ(s) do get compressed 
.
.
Dan
Contributor
So, each lung (left & right sides) of a free diver would be about 25% of his / her original size (about the size of a fist) at 100' deep?
If liquids at the extremities don't compress, why is there increased blood flow?
Also, when running on a treadmill there is increased blood flow - does that expand the heart also?
mattia_v
Contributor
In theory
I don't think compression is the only factor, but also loss of a gravity, which is usually what keeps a proportion of your venous blood in your limbs rather than your core. Immersion does shift blood volume towards the central circulation, so part of the roughly 2/3 of your blood that is usually in your venous pool may shift and become more actively involved in the circulatory system.
Diving leads to increased venous return, so more volume in the right side of the heart, and thus the left side of the heart, and thus to greater cardiac output.
The same happens in exercise on a treadmill, though due to different reasons (greater demand, larger breaths which 'suck' blood into the chest, muscles in legs 'pushing' blood into the central venous system), so yes, greater flow, and more output.
Your heart normally pumps about 4 to 6 liters every minute (cardiac output, basically heart rate x stroke volume, the amount pumped out with each heartbeat). This can increase to 20 or 30 liters per minute - a large part of this is heart rate, but some of it is an increase in stroke volume.
I don't think compression is the only factor, but also loss of a gravity, which is usually what keeps a proportion of your venous blood in your limbs rather than your core. Immersion does shift blood volume towards the central circulation, so part of the roughly 2/3 of your blood that is usually in your venous pool may shift and become more actively involved in the circulatory system.
Diving leads to increased venous return, so more volume in the right side of the heart, and thus the left side of the heart, and thus to greater cardiac output.
The same happens in exercise on a treadmill, though due to different reasons (greater demand, larger breaths which 'suck' blood into the chest, muscles in legs 'pushing' blood into the central venous system), so yes, greater flow, and more output.
Your heart normally pumps about 4 to 6 liters every minute (cardiac output, basically heart rate x stroke volume, the amount pumped out with each heartbeat). This can increase to 20 or 30 liters per minute - a large part of this is heart rate, but some of it is an increase in stroke volume.
fmerkel
Contributor
Immersion Diuresis (Urge to Urinate)
Organs do not compress, nor do the lungs on a scuba dive. Anyone thinking otherwise needs to go back for some remedial dive physiology lessons.
Organs do not compress, nor do the lungs on a scuba dive. Anyone thinking otherwise needs to go back for some remedial dive physiology lessons.
Last edited:
Similar threads
