Asprin

[landlocked]

Any problem taking asprin along with, or after diving?

 

[Rick Murchison]

Now there's a wide open question...
Short answer is "yes" - aspirin promotes bleeding and exacerbates a number of gastrointestinal problems.
However, there are circumstances where the answer may be "no."
Recommend you consult your physician for your particular circumstances for your individual answer..
Rick

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear Readers:

Some divers, and astronauts, take aspirin before decompression in the belief that it mitigates the risk of DCS. I personally do not believe that the evidence for this is not very good.

Many wonderful things happen in rats, but they do not have the same type of DCS as do human divers. While rats might have shown some freedom from DCS, it does not translate into humans.:upset:

Dr Deco :doctor:

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

Back in my freediving days, I would routinely take two aspirin about an hour prior to diving. The effects I was looking for was different from a belief that it helped prevent DCS.

With the aspirin, I was able to dive longer, without ear discomfort from the constant pressurization and depressurization of the ears. The aspirin DIDN'T prevent ear squeeze. Instead, it prolonged the time until the eardrum and eustatian tubes become sore or inflammed. It worked quite well, IMHO.

The other effect was once reseached by the University of Miami Medical School. I've looked for the article with no success. Taking aspirin at least an hour before a dive and then every 4-6 hours thereafter dramatically reduced sunburn. The anti-inflammatory effect of the aspirin reduced the damage of the cumulative effects of wind, sun, salt--all, of which contribute to the "burn". It must be noted that no mention was made of a "protective effect" to UV exposure or its cumulative effects. ASPIRIN DOES NOT PREVENT SKIN CANCER. The aspirin easily extended the time on the boat before sunburn began to be noticed. In most cases little or no burn occurred to ME (I have a dark complexion) on dives after the winter, when my tan had faded. In lighter skinned persons, it works but not to the extent it does for a darker complexion. Even with a tan, the skin is still at the mercy of salt burn and wind burn--on the lips, upper parts of the ears, etc. I rarely had any problem--even in near the Equator when I used aspirin.

Since I cannot produce the scientific information I make no "statement of fact or accuracy". In my experience premedication with aspirin was helpful--anecdotal info only.

The reasoning behind the use of aspirin (and I would expect other NSAIDs) is that it reduces or delays the inflammatory response, which can be injurious in itself.

For people who are not sensitive to aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen, etc. have no asthmatic episodes to these drugs or are NOT allergic to sulfonamides, they are useful. In dentistry, Dolobid 500 mg is sometimes prescribed prior to wisdom tooth extractions (12 hours prior). A significant reduction of "dry socket" has been noted and often these patients did not require narcotic prescription following the surgery. It has little effect on platelets. In fact, aspirin is the drug most likely to cause bleeding. This fact has been recently noted in studies of Vioxx and Celebrex. In patients taking these drugs for arthritis instead of aspirin, an increase in heart attacks and strokes were noted. The simple reason was that they no longer had "thinned" their blood with aspirin--which had been previously been taken for arthritis. Switching to the newer drugs produced more pain relief to their arthritis but provided little or no protection to clots. These patients had, in switching to the newer pain medication unwittingly took away their clot protection and the incidence of medical conditions associated with clots reappeared.

I am making no scientific claims to the above information. In my experience, however, I have noted benefits. Those diving with me have also tried and noted the same effects. The increase bleeding posed little problem. On occasion, a scratch would bleed a little longer but would eventually stop. I also noted that when loading a speargun and bracing it against a thigh or stomach, slight bruising sometimes occurred.

I currently use enteric coated aspirin to keep it "out of my stomach" longer.

Hopefully, this information is useful or at least informative. I regret that I cannot provide the actual scientific data. Perhaps one of you might be able to find it.

Regards,

Larry Stein

 

[devilfish]

I am not a doctor, but I understood that taking aspirin after diving would promote off-gassing, maybe too fast. And also in the case of onset of dcs, aspirin might mask the symptoms.
Years ago I too would take aspirin after diving if I had the "niggles".

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

I think the reality of aspirin is that it is so widely used for its intended purposes that on any given dive, someone on the boat probably has taken the medication and will successfully complete the dive.

It most likely doesn't affect DCS. It's platelet effects can last up to a week after a single dose. Divers are not dropping like flys because they have taken it for a headache or for a perceived dive benefit. Arguements as to DCS benefits are moot. It's common usage almost guarantees that scuba divers can complete successful dives while under the medication's effects. This neither proves nor disproves any DCS benefits.

Conversely, aspirin's common usage doesn't mean that you will bleed to death after being bitten by that shark. If you're gonna die, you're gonna die. The aspirin didn't make you bleed to death--the size of the hole does (pardon the generalization). I'm sure, however, that someone out there is going to blame the aspirin instead of the shark.

Geez, I love those teeth!

Larry Stein

 

[landlocked]

Sorry. I should have been more specific. The reason for the question was..... having laid on my shoulder funny while reading I developed what I beleived to be tendonitis. Have just gotten home from a dive a few hours before, I was just a little nervous in taking some asprin as I was unsure whether it might have a negative effect if what I was experiencing was in fact DCS. In any event, I think that the question has been answered and I thank you one and all!

Back in my running days I used to take Ibuprofin (sp) before running. It worked really well for a while. Eventually, I started to develop a funny feeling in my stomach after I took it so I quit taking it. I never thought of applying the same idea to diving.

 

[iainwilliams]

I have a question for good Dr. Stein!

You mentioned earlier that platlets are reduced for up to a week after taking asprin. What doseage are we talking about here?

I agree that there is little scientific evidence to the effects of taking asprin in relation to minimising DCS. However, if a diver wishes to take advantage of the "perhaps" benificial platelet removal, then what dose would lower the platlett count? and how early could that dose be taken, considering the effect maybe for as long as a week? Thank you. Iain

 

[Laurence Stein DDS]

iainwilliams,

In all honesty, I don't know how dose related the platelet effects are. I do know that following a normal dose of aspirin, the platelet effects are seen for up to 1 week following a single dose of aspirin. The effect is diministed with time but if I do an extraction and the patient starts to bleed more than usual, if I question them about the use of aspirin, they might not have had it in several days but I can notice an effect at up to a week. This is born out in the literature.

Does an 81 mg "baby aspirin" have the same effect--I just don't know but for safety's sake I treat it just like a full does of aspirin. If the patient has been taking 81 mg of aspirin daily, then there is no difference.

Regards.

Laurence Stein DDS

I think this is a VERY good question, perhaps the other docs will chime in on this one.