Is Scuba therapy a pain management tool?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

don't know but i think it is hard work to do. is it really a therapy.if yes then how it works & what is the benefit?
 
IMHO yes it is. I have personally taught and dove withseveral paralyzed individuals who have reported pain relief from diving. Onedive buddy was using liquid morphine, Fentanyl by patch and vicadan for pain.If they can dive every 5 or 6 weeks they only use the occasional vicadan. I also know that on day I tweaked by back and my dive buddy commented that I was wincing every time I took a step as we walked geared up to the dive site. At 30 feet the pain went away and I left the water feeling fine. Will it work for you? Can't say. If you go to youtube and search for SCUBA Therapy you will find several videos of the our wounded warriors using SCUBA for thereapy.

Disabled Veterans SCUBA Project

 
It sure helps my arthritis pain. My husband can see the better attitude towards my pain the day before and after I dive.

Maybe it's the cold water making the swelling go down..... ;-)

gail
 
It sure helps my arthritis pain. My husband can see the better attitude towards my pain the day before and after I dive.

Maybe it's the cold water making the swelling go down..... ;-)

gail

I'm sure your brain is swimming in endorphins with the planning and the debriefing.

When I go on a dive trip I'm so high you can probably tell me "the world is ending" and I'll just stupidly smile.
 
I have found diving to be a very potent pain management thing -- not only does it ease my back pain, but it seems to help with other arthritic problems, too. This is rather counterintuitive, because one would think hauling heavy equipment would aggravate such things.

There is actually a paper I read a while back, looking at rats that were compressed, that showed changes in the serotonin circuitry in their brains, which could definitely impact both mood and pain perception.
 
As a disable veteran with knee & back issues, I have been following this topic for quite some time. I have spoken with Duke Medical a few times and the scientific data is still not substantial to say yes or no.

But like others have said or witnessed...yes it does help with my chronic pains. I plan to keep diving until I am physically incapable of doing it safely.:happywave:

~Me~
 
I'm with Oldbear - as a survivor of traumatic SCI with multiple other injuries/issues, I can add that from first hand experience I always feel better in the water, and after a good dive.
It may be the endorphins, or it may be the relief from stress and weight bearing on painful, irritated joints, but it works for me, and I plan to continue diving as long as I can.
KevinL
 
As a traumatic amputee & burn victim I can say that diving definitely helps/eliminates my phantom limb pain. I don't know if it's the even water pressure on my limb, endorphins or the fact that I'm distracted by doing something I love. My purely non scientific conclusion is it's all of the above.
 
I have spoken with Duke Medical a few times and the scientific data is still not substantial to say yes or no.

We are currently working with DiveHeart to help change that.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

Back
Top Bottom