No diving for 30 days?

[DTB1981]

My doctor said that I can't dive for the next 30 days. I hit my head at work and got a bad cut and a concussion. I think the no diving is for the cut it is about 4 inches long and down to the bone they closed it up in the ER last Thursday with 12 staples but just got to talk to my doc today. I had a boat dive planed at the end of the month. I thought I would be able to go but it is not looking to good. What do you all think?

[The Kraken]

. . . that you should heed the advice of your doctor.

the K

[cummings66]

My doctor said that I can't dive for the next 30 days. I hit my head at work and got a bad cut and a concussion.

What I would do is talk to the doctor and see why he said that. Often they give a generic don't do this for x length of time basing the x on the longest period needed. Maybe you could be shorter and would need a followup visit to see how you're coming along, in which case the doc might say you're fine to go.

If your dive can be cancelled if you give so much notice, I'd cancel right now and reschedule. If it can't be cancelled I'd talk to the doctor ASAP because I'm sure that number was a generic number that has tolerance in it. See, you'll be at 26 or 27 days since the accident and I believe the doc will ok it.

[DTB1981]

I can cancel. The trip any time up to 48 hour before

[TSandM]

The prohibition has nothing to do with the cut itself. Scalp wounds heal quickly, and by 30 days (or 27) post injury, can be treated as though they never happened.

The issue is with the concussion, and to some extent, the strictness of the prohibition depends on the severity of the original injury. To diagnose a concussion, one should have either loss of consciousness at the time of the original event, or some neurologic abnormality on examination. Common ones include amnesia for the event, perseveration (repeating one's self), confusion, slurred speech, and the like. People who demonstrate neurologic abnormalities have, by definition, injury to the brain substance itself. This comes with an increased risk of recurrent symptoms, including seizures. In addition, a second head injury, however slight, can be fatal after a concussion. For this reason, sports activities are generally restricted for anything from two weeks to six months, until all symptoms have completely resolved (including headaches).

I would definitely talk to your doctor. You may not be able to talk to the doctor who treated you for the head injury, if you were treated in an ER, but your doctor should be able to access the ER records and see how severe the symptoms were that diagnosed your concussion. He can then explain to you the rationale for restricting your activities, and go over the risk/benefit ratio of liberalizing those restrictions early.

[gfisher4792]

I'd heed my doctor. The diving will always be there. Make sure you are, too.

[BrianS]

I think you should be asking another Doctor for an opinion and not a Message Board.


What do you all think?

[Kriterian]

I think I would go with my doctor's advice in this case. It's not worth a dive trip if there is a chance that an errant wave could bring a ladder down on your head and either A) Reopen the wound or B) Kill you from the repeat concussion

If it was something different, that wasn't quite as serious as a concussion (knee scrape, broken finger) I would probably use my own judgement.

[DTB1981]

I think you should be asking another Doctor for an opinion and not a Message Board.


I was just asking if this is normal. Or if it sounded to long.

[mrobinson]

I was just asking if this is normal. Or if it sounded to long.
I think you're right to ask around. I'd get the opinion of an actual dive doctor - the ones with extra training in the dive field & DAN's opinion.

Good luck man! The Canadian boys around here get them all the time from hockey... concussions suck.

[TSandM]

Again, it depends on the severity of the original injury.

Some authorities recommend two weeks from the date of resolution of ALL symptoms (including headaches). This is for very mild concussions, represented by mere amnesia for the event or brief loss of consciousness.

For more significant injuries, with grosser symptoms (perseveration, confusion, alterations in speech, movement or balance, or problems with short-term memory) the recommendation can be anything from thirty days to six months, and that time runs from the resolution of ALL symptoms.

You should be aware that there are measurable alterations in neuropsychiatric parameters after concussion. You do not think as well, and you have short-term memory problems of which you may or may not be aware. All of this will also come into play in assessing the risk of going underwater.

[Spoon]

My doctor said that I can't dive for the next 30 days. I hit my head at work and got a bad cut and a concussion. I think the no diving is for the cut it is about 4 inches long and down to the bone they closed it up in the ER last Thursday with 12 staples but just got to talk to my doc today. I had a boat dive planed at the end of the month. I thought I would be able to go but it is not looking to good. What do you all think?

youve got no choice bro. your doc knows what hes doing. you wouldnt want to further delay your recovery becasue you could not wait to dive. i go nuts though if i cant dive every other week better yet 30 days:) good luck and get well soon

[Lead_carrier]

If you chose not to heed your doctors advise, just make sure you put on your waiver that your are diving against your doctors advice. That way everyone will be covered, just in case there was a legitimate reason for the doc to recommend against diving. Besides, what do doctors know. They only spent a number of years studying, learning and figuring out what makes us tick and what will cause us to stop ticking. Personally, I would tend to lean toward what the doc says. Maybe he knows a bit more about what's going on than I do.

[cummings66]

Besides, what do doctors know. They only spent a number of years studying, learning and figuring out what makes us tick and what will cause us to stop ticking. Personally, I would tend to lean toward what the doc says. Maybe he knows a bit more about what's going on than I do.

I would lean that way myself, but I'd also get a checkout near the end of the 30 days, I suspect he's got to do that anyhow.

One thing I would add, my AME and myself have interesting conversations, he's a diver as well as a pilot so you can imagine what we chat about. There are guidelines for how to spit if you're a doctor, but the thing is it's all variable and depends on external factors and the final say is the last evaluation.

I had an injury that ended up with my being restricted in what I could lift. He told me I would most likely be down about a month. I come back in a month, still restricted. It took 3 months to get released, so the point is you need to be flexible and check with the doctor. Just because they say 30 days does not mean it's 30 days, just that they expect it to be better in that time frame. I've known doctors to tell people the same thing and release them in a week. But, the key is that the doctor released them to do the activity.

Don't do anything without the doctor clearing it, but don't assume it's a hard and fast number because it's not, it's dependant on other factors.

[DTB1981]

I am cleared to go back in the water. But there is a typhoon out there.