has anyone felt advance warning of lung squeeze before?

hello, I am newly OW cert & have been going out for a few group dives, on the last one a week ago i experienced what i best describe as a lung squeeze during the last 6 feet of ascent into a choppy sea (felt sort of like that initial pressure you start feeling on your ear, when you are a bit late to equalize due to task loading)


it felt so minor i didnt pay much attn to it at the time, but when i later read up about lung expansion theory i got worried & set an appointment with a diving doctor for later this week. the first night that lung felt a little tender, but this tenderness is gone now.


for the past few days i have kept my daily hour of jogging & have noticed no breathlessness.


in the meantime i have been searching all over the forums for a experience like mine as i am counting the suspenseful minutes till the doc gets to have a look at me. has anyone heard of someone who felt a lung squeeze (advance warning of pressure which was released in the nick of time[i hope])? or with lungs is it just either you get hurt or not hurt? i am not looking for advice just if this possibility makes sense (just like ear squeeze is distinct from ear rupture)

thanks

There is no such thing as "lung squeeze" in the sense you are refering to it. If you feel anything, it would be the other way, lung over-expansion. NEVER NEVER NEVER hold your breath WHILE ASCENDING. If you felt anything, it would only be because you were holding your breath.

fire_diver:

There is no such thing as "lung squeeze" in the sense you are refering to it. If you feel anything, it would be the other way, lung over-expansion. NEVER NEVER NEVER hold your breath WHILE ASCENDING. If you felt anything, it would only be because you were holding your breath.

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i used squeeze in the sense that the lung is prevented from expanding by the rib cage, squeeze as opposed to rupture.


i am trying to search other cases here using keywords like "borderline lung expansion", "micro trauma", mild expansion etc but am not finding anything.

i guess this sort of mistake mostly happens to beginners like me, & most beginners would not even notice the feeling or bother much with something that doesnt feel obviously debilitating.

Are you inflating your bcd as you surface? From six feet, you should not be doing this but if you haven't emptied your bcd before or at the safety stop, what you are feeling may be your bcd pressing in on you due to its inflation. What style of bcd do you wear?

espadin:

i used squeeze in the sense that the lung is prevented from expanding by the rib cage, squeeze as opposed to rupture.

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A squeeze is when the water pressure tries to collapse a non-collapsible, gas-filled space. Go too deep without equalizing your ears and you will feel the pressure squeeze your inner ear. a blockage is when a gas-filled space in the body can not equalize and release the excess pressure. This can happen when you get sinus or ear trouble while at depth and then begin an ascent. Neither of these describe a lung over-expansion injury.

Were you SWIMMING up and holding your breath? Were you inflating your BC to give you an elevator ride up while holding your breath? Did you have coughing spasms? Did you cough up blood or pink foam?

As a runner - I sometimes use mild to moderate muscle pain as an indicator that I might be overtraining. Mild strains result in a certain kinds of pain that is distinct from tears or ruptures.

However, consider - there was never an evolutionary reason for us to have nerve endings in our lungs to signal near or imminent lung over-expansion. As such - I wouldn't expect much warning before your did serious or fatal damage.

Now AFTER the fact - I wouldn't at all be surprised if you have pain in your chest and difficulty breathing - but by then - its a bit too late.

The pressure difference at 6 feet of depth isn't all the different from being at the surface. I doubt you had any lung issues. Maybe a bubble of gastro-gas working it's way up your esophagus from last nights Taco Bell? I've had some significant burping on surfacing once or twice.

People who have heart attacks often describe the symptoms as having pressure on their chest. How old are you and what kind of physical shape are you in? Just because you jog doesn't mean you can't have cardiac issues.

Good on you for scheduling an appointment out of an abundance of caution. ScubaBoard is full of an abundance of knowledge, including many in the medical field. If ever in doubt, I would suggest giving Divers Alert Network (DAN) a call rather to get a more immediate answer. They will field all calls, regardless of membership. They're a super-friendly and knowledgeable bunch.

Join or Renew DAN Scuba Diving Membership, Contact DAN ? DAN | Divers Alert Network

+1-800-446-2671
M-F 8:30a-5p EST

+1-919-684-9111
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industrious95:

The pressure difference at 6 feet of depth isn't all the different from being at the surface.

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But is, unfortunately, enough to cause a lung over-expansion injury if someone breathing compressed gas holds a full breath and surfaces. Around 4 feet is enough to cause serious damage - the lungs aren't built to take any significant over-pressure.

Edit: As bl6394 said, there are no nerve-endings in your lungs, so you don't get any advance warning. If you felt something in your chest, it's more likely to have been your ribs, or, indeed, indigestion - it does happen. See the doc anyway if you're worried - better to know than guess on the basis of what a bunch of strangers on the interwebs say...

Occasionally divers may have a not common condition in which small blisters on the lung (blebs) rupture and allow air to seep into the intrapleural space. This will cause a closed pneumothorax which will feel like a reverse squeeze upon ascent.

Probably not what you experienced but you could mention it to the doc.