Flatulation, can it occur with scuba?

[mddolson]

I have never Off-gassed during a dive.
But certainly have afterwards.

I knew a guy once who had TF (Terminal Flatulance). just joking.

Trust me TF is nothing to snif at!

Mike D

Why not call a spade a spade..... 'Have you farted while diving'?

 

[ClayJar]

Hmm... What's the narcotic potential of methane, certain mercaptans, and such at depth?

 

[vablackwater]

sure can, i call it off-gassing.

 

[Warren_L]

I usually have a bit of a squeeze in my drysuit when I am exiting the water from a dive, so unzipping is usually not a problem as much of it would have been vented during ascent anyway. However, if you do need to vent, do not pull open your neck seal (at least from the front) or if through the shoulder dump, turn your head the other way....

 

[Meng_Tze]

Ah, but your guess is mistaken.

Unless you're in a sealed, rigid pressure vessel, your insides are at the same pressure as your outsides (with a little rounding error for skin tension... at least until you're old and decrepit ). Any gases evolved during digestion will be at whatever ambient pressure you're exposed to. Of course, the volumetric quantity of gas produced for a given molar quantity of chemistry will be reduced, as it will be compressed just as any gas would be.

So how do you explain the explosive pressure of some of these under water? I once saw a guy release gas in his wet suit.... I could swear he was speeding up......definitely higher pressure that ambient

 

[fisherdvm]

So how do you explain the explosive pressure of some of these under water? I once saw a guy release gas in his wet suit.... I could swear he was speeding up......definitely higher pressure that ambient

I think that is due to a law of physics. For every action, there is a reaction. As the air has mass, and the water it displaces has mass - for the air to go back, you must go forward.

 

[Meng_Tze]

I think that is due to a law of physics. For every action, there is a reaction. As the air has mass, and the water it displaces has mass - for the air to go back, you must go forward.

I understand that part of the rocket science..... but in order for the gas to come out in the first place...... It must be at higher pressure than ambient?

 

[friscuba]

If you think you need to pass wind underwater... let 'er rip. It beats the heck out of coming up from depth and having that gas expand. I had that happen once... I was dieing at about the 12' depth mark and running for an outhouse the moment I hit shore.

By the way, there was a study on lactose intolerance a few years back. They took a large group of people who described themselves as "highly lactose intolerant", divided them into half and told one half they'd be getting a meal along with milk with lactose and the other that they'd be getting lactose free milk. Then they pulled the switcheroo and gave the group that thought they were getting lactose the lactose free milk, and those that thought they were getting nothing the milk with lactose. A large portion of those who thought they were getting lactose and actually didn't complained of problems while few of those who thought they weren't getting lactose actually complained of problems (something like 5-10%). I think they're final conclusion was that while they thought lactose intolerance does indeed exist, most of those who complain about "lactose intolerance" just ate more than they should have and blamed lactose. My wife has a cousin who goes on about how lactose intolerant she is, then eats stuff loaded with it, but she avoids milk.

 

[Warren_L]

I understand that part of the rocket science..... but in order for the gas to come out in the first place...... It must be at higher pressure than ambient?

When you're in a flexible container like your body for example, there is elasticity that can create a small transient pressure differential that would force the equalization of gasses (in this case, the expusion of intestinal gases). In addition to this, this transient pressure differential can also be enhanced by muscular contraction of your diaphragm (same principle as how you draw air into your lungs). So there is a pressure differential created, but it is relatively small and transient.

 

[drl]

I can't explain the physiology or the physics, but I have demonstrated empirically that it is possible to pass gas at depth (at least at 40 feet or so) without distress. And I didn't see any fish fleeing!