Neck pain from diving

[dumpsterDiver]

I can see why it is done but sometimes rules need broken for good reasons.

I actually find it is fun to be out of trim sometimes - quite fun to go head down (headstand) to look at your buddy (if behind you) to check on gas.

Perfect trim for me has its place but I personally don't feel the need to be in that place all the time.

If you have low back pain one very simple and effective thing to do is switch to a rubber weight belt. The big benefit is derived from the ability to move it up or down, even over your butt if the low back hurts. Being able to shift it and allowing the elasticity, rather than the tightness to stabilize it will help a lot if you are wearing maybe 10 lbs or more.

 

[Neilwood]

I LIKE the idea of going out of trim now and then--mixing it up so that it to helps "reduce back strain and tension," as uncfnp explained it--I really do. But exactly what positions to try just don't occur to me. I would never have thought of doing a headstand, though I suspect it might be fun AND perhaps good for my back. However, I do like tbone's suggestion of rolling when I want to look at something higher than my body, rather than craning my neck. And then there's the element of guilt I alluded to--I spent a lot of time working on achieving horizontal trim. When I see a diver vertical, say, in some form of that "buddha" hover position, I sort of cringe. Why would they do that? It goes against everything I spent a lot of time and money to learn.

Yet my back often hurts after a dive. What to do. What to do ....

The thing is you know you can "instantly" recover perfect trim - you know what it feel like. Shifting around a bit - even a few degrees from horizontal could make a difference (either rotationally or head up). I know on my week long LOB trip I was trying to maintain good trim on all my dives but it did cause me a bit of back and neck stiffness. The occasional somersault, spin etc gets other muscles involved while relieving those under strain - they can also be pretty good fun (so long as your not causing any issues silting or hitting someone). Going side down on a wall reef instead of rotating your head makes sense to me.

If you want to justify it to yourself, do it as a test of your buoyancy control in positions other than "perfect trim" - can I still hover upside down or looking side on at a wall reef. Instead of moving your neck to check your buddies at your sides, spin round (but maintain your depth). Can I do the equivalent of a barrel roll or a "hesitation roll" where you stop at 90, 180, 270 and 360 degrees? Think of it similar to manoeuvring through a restriction while maintaining your overall position. It can challenging if you want it to be - go from trim to a headstand to trim without losing your depth control and without excessive finning, armwaving etc - using your core to adjust position as far as possible.

Just my tu'pence worth.

 

[uncfnp]

I LIKE the idea of going out of trim now and then--mixing it up so that it to helps "reduce back strain and tension," as uncfnp explained it--I really do. But exactly what positions to try just don't occur to me. I would never have thought of doing a headstand, though I suspect it might be fun AND perhaps good for my back. However, I do like tbone's suggestion of rolling when I want to look at something higher than my body, rather than craning my neck. And then there's the element of guilt I alluded to--I spent a lot of time working on achieving horizontal trim. When I see a diver vertical, say, in some form of that "buddha" hover position, I sort of cringe. Why would they do that? It goes against everything I spent a lot of time and money to learn.

Yet my back often hurts after a dive. What to do. What to do ....

The thing is you know you can "instantly" recover perfect trim - you know what it feel like. Shifting around a bit - even a few degrees from horizontal could make a difference (either rotationally or head up). I know on my week long LOB trip I was trying to maintain good trim on all my dives but it did cause me a bit of back and neck stiffness. The occasional somersault, spin etc gets other muscles involved while relieving those under strain - they can also be pretty good fun (so long as your not causing any issues silting or hitting someone). Going side down on a wall reef instead of rotating your head makes sense to me.

If you want to justify it to yourself, do it as a test of your buoyancy control in positions other than "perfect trim" - can I still hover upside down or looking side on at a wall reef. Instead of moving your neck to check your buddies at your sides, spin round (but maintain your depth). Can I do the equivalent of a barrel roll or a "hesitation roll" where you stop at 90, 180, 270 and 360 degrees? Think of it similar to manoeuvring through a restriction while maintaining your overall position. It can challenging if you want it to be - go from trim to a headstand to trim without losing your depth control and without excessive finning, armwaving etc - using your core to adjust position as far as possible.

Just my tu'pence worth.

Exactly. Except I might not take it quite as far as Neilwood. The skill is in being able to achieve and maintain the trim position that is best for you and the topography of the dive.

Even if drifting/swimming over a completely flat reef (though this is rare on my dives) I will occasionally go near or completely vertical and take a look around. I have spotted many things this way that I would have missed otherwise. Even when horizental I let my legs drift down occasionally and do a straight leg scissor kick. If really getting stiff I will even briefly draw my legs to my chest just to stretch the back out.

But on intense trips like Bonaire I have to resort to a short course of low dose prednisone.

 

[mmmbelows]

I had chronic neck pains for over 2 years and now I'm 90% cured and working toward 100% shortly. The problem was my pillow. Sleeping with too thick of a pillow was putting my head in a chin down toward chest at night, 8 hours of low level aggravation built up over a long time to the point where I had a low level back ground of inflammation and irritation to the neck, then when I added anything more intense like a hour dive that was enough to cause severe pain. The solution was simply to sleep without a pillow which put my neck in a straight position at night and allowed those 8 hours to become 8 hours of recovery, slowly over a few months with the low level of aggravation removed my neck is 90% better even with a stressful activity added to my day. A massage therapist I was seeing explained it that your body's muscles have a natural tolerance and buffer built into them, when we add a low level continuous stress to parts of our body we lose that buffer, then it doesn't take much to push us into a painful reaction, the key is removing the low level stress and getting that buffer back.

 

[OMANDIVER]

Bill, you couldn't be in a better place to help all kinds of physical woes. Take up yoga! But remember doing yoga, you don't have to do anything in yoga that hurts you either. Take up beginner gentle yoga. Your posture should improve which will help you topside too. I'm not trying to say that improving your posture is why you should go to yoga. But gentle yoga is especially great for those of us of a certain age. (Says me as I've been skipping it for an extended period f time, doh!)

There is a Yoga for Scuba Divers book, recommended, you can find it on line.

 

[billt4sf]

Hey Gang - great suggestions!

FWIW I had two dives this AM so far -- very low pain. I put the tank a bit higher -- which DOES affect my trim -- I have to bend at the waist and/or kick to get horizontal -- and MAYBE this was enough to provide a few minutes of relief on a regular basis. Then again maybe my neck doesn't hurt because of my good looks. Who knows?

I definitely am searching for the right pillow. Thanks for mentioning that. I need a small level of lift from the flat.

I am very pleased that I can go on a third dive today!

- Bill

 

[charlier]

Hey Gang - great suggestions!

FWIW I had two dives this AM so far -- very low pain. I put the tank a bit higher -- which DOES affect my trim -- I have to bend at the waist and/or kick to get horizontal -- and MAYBE this was enough to provide a few minutes of relief on a regular basis. Then again maybe my neck doesn't hurt because of my good looks. Who knows?

I definitely am searching for the right pillow. Thanks for mentioning that. I need a small level of lift from the flat.

I am very pleased that I can go on a third dive today!

- Bill

Bill, where are you diving these days. We are in Padang For a three day scuba weekend. Charlie ;-)

 

[billt4sf]

Misool Eco Resort, in Raja Ampat. They seem to be doing some really good work here! Know anything about it?

- Bill

 

[Dan]

Bill, don't miss the Magic Mountain cleaning station & night dive to see walking shark while you are there.

 

[Neilwood]

@billt4sf - glad to hear you are getting a bit of relief from the pain. Sometimes even a small change can reap a big reward.