A bit of help here please!

[freediver]

Ok, so I turned 41 years of age today. I have been battling a nagging shoulder injury for over a year. Naturally I play it off as tendinitis but the pain becomes enough of a nuisance and I seek treatment. After some unsuccessful therapy and a cortisone injection, I ended up having an x-ray. The preliminary finding is avascular necrosis (shoulder region). Of course what I would like to know is what is the prognosis toward a continuation of my diving career. I ask this specifically because I also understand that an undetected DCS hit could be the blame! I am asking for any med professional expertise in this area to respond. Also of note is the fact that I am an Acromegalic and curious if it could be related. Thanks in advance....

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello readers:

Avascular Necrosis

There are several causes of this problem such as injury, steroid medications, excessive alcohol use, Gaucher's disease, pancreatitis, radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and blood disorders such as sickle cell disease. Thus, this disorder definitely can occur in those who are not divers.

For divers, there is also the consequence of decompression sickness. This latter category is mostly for commercial divers, i.e., considerable decompression time is a part of the picture. In your case, a scuba instructor could possibly have developed this, although unlikely.

It is generally assumed that a single case of DCS will not cause avascular necrosis. Recreational divers seldom are found with this problem. I would not think that diving caused your problem, because extensive decompression is not a large part of scuba instruction.
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Continuance of Diving

A continuance of some diving is something that will need to be discussed with a specialist in diving medicine.

Dr Deco :doctor:

The next class in Decompression Physiology for 2006 is September 16 – 17. :1book: http://wrigley.usc.edu/hyperbaric/advdeco.htm