Decompression sickness duration

[paulsomething1]

Hello. I have a few questions about decompression sickness.
If untreated, how long will decompression sickness last? Will it either improve or get worse, or can it simply stay. For how long can it stay? Days? Weeks? Longer?

Also, is inner ear DCS always observed quickly, or can it develop after several days?

[VooDooGasMan]

Go on a binge for two weeks and if it dose not go away, guess what your probably screwed by then and might not help to hop in chamber. If it is you call dan and get help now, got it. If you do not no who dan is you have bigger problems.

[Akimbo]

I suggest it is prudent to assume permanent damage if not treated quickly. Quickly can range from minutes to hours but not days. Treatment after a day or more reduces efficacy dramatically.

[gmanstan]

Come on VooDoo Man, give him a break. You see it says 0-24 dives,probably closer to the zero than the 24...lol..But he does need to get with DAN. They'll give him a free mag when he signs up too. That should answer a lotta his questions.

[wedivebc]

Hello. I have a few questions about decompression sickness.
If untreated, how long will decompression sickness last? Will it either improve or get worse, or can it simply stay. For how long can it stay? Days? Weeks? Longer?

Also, is inner ear DCS always observed quickly, or can it develop after several days?

Some form of DCS can last for a lifetime. Mild untreated DCS can clear up in a few days or not. Treated DCS often clears up during treatment but not always. There are many variables with DCS and it is not possible to give a definate answer.

Inner ear DCS often manifests itself while the diver is ascending but is often asscociated with very deep, high helium dives.

[DevonDiver]

Moderator's Comments:

Moved to Diving Medicine

[bleeb]

Also, is inner ear DCS always observed quickly, or can it develop after several days?

Someone recently posted statistics on the time delay between surfacing and onset of symptoms. Hopefully it'll get posted again, but IIRC less than a few percent of cases show up after 48 hours, so 'several days' seems unlikely.

[TSandM]

If you think you might be experiencing DCS, call DAN.

If you are a new diver, and respecting your depth and decompression limits, and have had no problems with control, it is unlikely that whatever symptoms you may be having are DCS -- but those are a lot of "ifs".

If you HAVE DCS and do not get it treated, damage can be permanent.

I gather, from your last question, that you may be having problems with vertigo? If it's just muffled hearing and some crackling or popping, it's like to be simple barotrauma. If it's vertigo, it's either severe barotrauma or something else. Severe vertigo should be evaluated by a physician.

[DocVikingo]

Someone recently posted statistics on the time delay between surfacing and onset of symptoms. Hopefully it'll get posted again, ....

Hi bleeb,

Time to onset figures vary a bit depending upon the source, but teh following from the U.S. Navy/TDI is representative:

Time to onset (% of cases)

- within 1 hour=42%
- within 3 hours=60%
- within 8 hours=83%
- within 24 hours=98%
- within 48 hours=99%

Regards,

DocVikingo

[reo]

Hi Paul,

Welcome to Scubaboard!

If you are having any symptoms you think might be DCS, please seek medical help immediately.

If you're just curious, Divers Alert Network (DAN), has a lot of online resources. You may also call them.

I see you you consider yourself a vacation diver, diving once in a while. Consider joining DAN, they've got some good benefits, especially for vacation divers who dive out of country. I know of a person who got some weird infection while cenote diving in Mexico. His hospital bill in Mexico was over $5,000.00 USD. Between DAN and his medical insurance, the cost was covered. IIRC DAN requires you to file with your medical insurance first, then they pick up the rest for dive related injuries. Check it out, please.

Ron