Disabled diver bouyancy problems

[disableddiver]

Hi, I am new diver I just got my OW in november. I was born with spina bifida a birth defect that affects the use of my legs I have little to no movement in both of them. I did most of my training in a pool and so was relatively unaware of the extent of the problem that when I am neutraly buoyant and horizontal near the bottom of the pool my legs were not necesarilly staying off the bottom. I realized the extent of this problem when I went on my certification dives in a lake where i was stirring up sand because my feet and legs were hitting the bottom. Because I have no feeling in my legs I would like to resolve this problem to prevent injury to myself especially since I would most likely be unaware of it. any suggestions?

 

[Saudi-Diver]

About two years ago I dived with a disabled lady for a week in Sharm. She had suffered serious spinal injuries from a horse riding accident and had no movement in her legs. She swam using specially adapted webbed gloves. Her attitude in the water was in a "feet down" attitude. Her bouyancy control was superb. She just remained aware of where her legs were and adjusted her position in the water column accordingly. She was one of the best divers I have ever had the privilage of diving with.

 

[cudachaser]

The feet down attitude is most likely because the bones in your legs are your predominant body tissue and they are denser than water. Possibly one thing you can do is wear a combination wet suit...ie 5mil farmer john and 3mil top

 

[knotical]

Welcome to diving. Trim issues are common and you’ll find many threads about them on ScubaBoard.

What you describe suggests at least two possible approaches. If you bend at the waist when your torso is horizontal, you could benefit from some positive buoyancy around your feet, perhaps thicker booties, or some of the few fins that float. If you are not bent at the waist (or even if you are), you could also shift some of your lead weights higher to move your center of mass closer to your center of buoyancy (or even higher, which could give you a slight head down position).

Happy bubbles,

k

 

[h2odragon1]

http://www.diveheart.org/
Jim should be able to help with this question.
Helping disabled divers is what they do.
It could be weighting, to adjust your trim, or just being aware of your legs.

 

[disableddiver]

hey thank you for the advice I didn't have much time today but I jumped in the pool using some more weight on the top of my tank. It seemed to give me a little more head down attitude when neutral!!!

 

[llqwyd]

Aloha and congrats on your certification! The recommendations above are all great and fairly easy to implement. I also wanted to add that as you work on perfecting your buoyancy by using the recommended techniques, have someone dive along with you to specifically watch your positioning and assist you. On the occasions where we conducted guided tours for disabled divers, we sent along a divemaster whose sole responsibility was to assist that diver in any way needed on the dive. She found that mostly, she just needed to lift his fins a bit occasionally so they didn't drag on the reef - the same problem you experienced. After discussing this following the first dive, the diver implemented a few of the techniques from above and I believe the problem was corrected the second time around. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Eric Castillo]

Again, Congrat's on your cert. It'll change your life for the better. I just finished my HSA Instructor Certification class with Jim Elliot and Diveheart. Proper weighting is the key to successful diving either disabled or not. If your legs and feet are slightly negative you need more buoyancy on your feet. Try light weight 5-7mm booties, this will increase the buoyancy of your feet, also lightweight fins might trim out your legs as you swim in the horizontal position. If all else fails you could try some neoprene around your ankles to increase buoyancy, you could make some with velcro. Try and think outside of the box, but SAFETY is your main focus. Whatever you do make sure it will not increase the risk of injury or death to you, your buddy or your buddies buddy. That is the coolest thing about working with divers with disabilities, you need to come up with different ways to get every diver trimmed properly. This is something you should work on with your HSA Instructor IN THE POOL before your next dive. If your instructor is not availiable try your local scuba shop. There might be some resistant but we all must knock down those doors. Best of luck. Let me know if you have any other questions. You can be my friend at,
MySpace.com - ~REIF INDUSTRIES~ - 32 - Male - Costa Mesa, California - www.myspace.com/reifindustries

 

[disableddiver]

Thank you all again for all the advice I will try these different techniques through the coming weeks as I get time. I have another question though. When i did my certification weekend I wore a 7mm farmer john with no top. I had some trouble staying at my 15 foot safety stop. My instructor said it was because at that level the wetsuit becomes less compressed and more buoyant. It seems i just can't dump air fast enough is this something that i just need to work on and practice or am I doing something wrong?

 

[pasley]

The buoyancy issue is one common to all new divers. It may be caused by one of several factors:
1. You are not dumping air soon enough. As you have said, once it gets ahead of you, you can't dump air fast enough. Start your ascent by dumping air so yo are slightly negative and swimming up. Keep dumping every few feet a little at a time. You should arrive at 15 feet with a BC that is empty, or nearly so of air.
2. Don't forget the dump you are using needs to be at the high point of your boddy. Tilt that shoulder up a bit.
3. When you start floating up, don't forget to exhale and get that big balloon full of air (Lungs) empty then take a small sip of air.
4. It is possible you are not correctly weighted. Most new divers are over weighted but it could be you are under weighted. don't forget you need more weight in salt water than fresh and if you add the farmer john top, that will require more weight. Any change in what you wear, or even your own weight (Thanksgiving adds weight 2x in diving, on you and your weight belt).