Diving after surgery

[hroark2112]

I recently had to have surgery on my hand after an injury on the job. I've got about 20 stitches in my palm, hopefully I'll get them out Tuesday.

What is recommended to protect the healing wound so I can get back in the water? Any good products out there?

 

[knotical]

Had a friend in similar circumstance who used ordinary medical latex gloves that he taped to his wrist to keep the water out, after shaving a wide “watchband” area.

 

[doctormike]

I recently had to have surgery on my hand after an injury on the job. I've got about 20 stitches in my palm, hopefully I'll get them out Tuesday.

What is recommended to protect the healing wound so I can get back in the water? Any good products out there?

Ask the surgeon when the stitches come out on Tuesday, since he or she knows exactly what the implications of water exposure to this particular surgical wound would be.

Seriously, not trying to be snotty, it's just that different surgical wounds require different postoperative care, and whatever advice someone gives you in an online forum is certainly not going to be as good as advice from someone who knows.

Head and neck surgical incisions become "waterproof" fairly quickly, but I'm guessing that hand wounds take longer since the head and neck has particularly good blood perfusion. Also, it's also not just the issue of water exposure. Depending on what surgery was done, you might not be ready to go back to full function even once the skin has healed, and I'm assuming that a rebreather pilot (let alone an instructor) needs to have both hands working well, right?

 

[hroark2112]

I'm definitely going to talk to the doctor and will follow his directions to the letter. I was hoping to get some ideas to discuss with him, since he's not a diver.

As far as full function, that's a big NO. I won't be doing any kind of instruction (well...maybe assisting or pool work once I'm cleared) until I'm 100% sure I'm safe to do so. I'll likely be doing OC diving until my hand is out of the brace. I've got a 13mm gap between the cut ends of a nerve in my hand, so until I'm out of the brace I don't want to risk damaging my recovery.

 

[doctormike]

I'm definitely going to talk to the doctor and will follow his directions to the letter. I was hoping to get some ideas to discuss with him, since he's not a diver.

As far as full function, that's a big NO. I won't be doing any kind of instruction (well...maybe assisting or pool work once I'm cleared) until I'm 100% sure I'm safe to do so. I'll likely be doing OC diving until my hand is out of the brace. I've got a 13mm gap between the cut ends of a nerve in my hand, so until I'm out of the brace I don't want to risk damaging my recovery.

Oh, a nerve repair! Yup, definitely be careful there...

People often ask me for referrals for doctors who understand diving issues. The thing is that for most types of surgery, you just won't find someone who will be able to give you the insight that you are looking for. The reason is that there just isn't data about the effect of diving on most medical conditions. This comes up a lot when people ask about diving while pregnant. You could find a neonatologist or an obstetrician who is also a tech diving instructor, and they still wouldn't be able to give you any more than an educated guess (don't do it!).

There are all sorts of contraptions to keep a wound dry underwater, they are often used for people wearing leg or arm casts, since they need to be kept dry for a lot longer than it takes for a skin wound to heal. But the bigger issue would be the effect of pressure on the underlying repair, and I don't think that anyone is going to be able to "clear" you for diving based on any real science.

It must be frustrating, I'm sorry that I can't be helpful, but maybe your doc will know more than I do.

Good luck!

 

[hroark2112]

That's OK, I appreciate the advice!

Last time I was out of the water for an extended time, I at least was still ok to play hockey. This time I'm out of both, and I'm going a bit stir crazy!

 

[uncfnp]

Most wounds can "get wet" about three days after suturing but that means clean water. Ocean water is entirely different. And a palm wound will be extremely tough to keep water tight given the irregular surface and flexability of most of the palm. So about the only option is as knotical mentioned and waterproof the entire hand. If your surgeon agrees.

The other isssue is the stress that the activity itself produces on the tissues of the hand, lifting and carrying gear, climbing the ladder in rough seas, etc.

So you need to discuss both factors with the surgeon, ocean water exposure and the activity requirements too.

 

[hroark2112]

Yeah, that's why I'll probably stick to simple, open circuit stuff when I'm cleared. I'm trying to limit my work to jobs that won't risk further injury, and definitely no sewer work until this is fully healed.