Question about diving with a depth limit

[Manxx]

I took my scuba course a couple weeks ago but my doctor urged a check with a scuba physician regarding a cervical disc compression I have.
The good news.. I can still dive.
The bad news.. Anything beyond 30-35 feet is risky because I won't be able to tell the difference between a symptom of the bends or my normal ache in the neck. Mistaking this could cost me dearly so the Scuba doctor has restricted me to 30 feet and I'm going to respect his advise.

Now the big question, how much trouble will I have finding dive partners who are willing to hang around the 30-35 foot mark especially in Southern Ontario. I know theres tons of shallow diving in the US but I also don't know if theres that much in shallow diving southern Ontario where a lot of my diving would be.

Is my Diving sport over or can I revive it?

Thanks

Manxx

 

[Jax]

Having such issues myself, I recommend a second opinion. I have no depth restrictions . . . but I don't remember exactly how much the weight limitation was supposed to be . . .

 

[nolatom]

I'll defer to scuba docs and others with more experience here, but does this restriction for Manxx seem like an overreaction? You can get bent coming up too fast from 35 feet too, just having a chronic sore neck that could mask joint pain (wouldn't the joint pain be in other joints too?) seems like overkill to my uneducated viewpoint.

On to the question you asked--yeah, it will be harder to find interesting sites if you can't go past 35, but much of the Fla. Keys reefs are around that depth, and the most colorful coral tends to be shallow. Can't help you with Southern Ontario though, since I don't know it.

 

[tc]

I'll defer to scuba docs and others with more experience here, but does this restriction for Manxx seem like an overreaction? You can get bent coming up too fast from 35 feet too, just having a chronic sore neck that could mask joint pain (wouldn't the joint pain be in other joints too?) seems like overkill to my uneducated viewpoint.

On to the question you asked--yeah, it will be harder to find interesting sites if you can't go past 35, but much of the Fla. Keys reefs are around that depth, and the most colorful coral tends to be shallow. Can't help you with Southern Ontario though, since I don't know it.

The risk in ascending too quickly is AGE- Arterial gas Embolism. That can occur is even shallow depths but the symptoms are usually very pronounced and onset is normally withing minutes of the end of the dive.

The doctor is more likely concerned about DCS- Decompression Sickness. Joint pain is one of the more common symptoms in DCS. By keeping the depth's of the dive(s) limited to 35 feet the maximum bottom time for a single dive (USN table) would be 232 minutes, not likely to occur with normally sized tanks in recreational diving. By staying shallow he want's you to avoid dive profiles that could even come close to producing enough of a nitrogen load to make DCS possible- thus removing the concern of a ?normal? sore neck masking DCS symptoms.

 

[Scuba.com]

In answer to your question, I think I'd ask around at the local dive shops or even take the time to make a stop one day at the local dive site and talk to people. I have no experience diving in your area, so I don't know, but here in Southern California for instance it's not uncommon to find a great deal of shore entered sites that offer reletively shallow depths as well as diving at deeper depths. A few minutes hanging out at either place can lead to a quick chat, and the possibility of new dive buddies.

Next, I think I'd inquire with another physician as well. Just for the heck of it. Possibly contact DAN and see if they have one they might refer you to that is more of a specialist in diving medicine. While it is very important to be conscious of DCS and it's symptoms, there are many more symptoms that would be felt in various other parts of your body than just that one.

In the end most definately respect the advice of your trusted physician. His job is your well being, after all. Err'ing on the side of caution can never be a bad thing.

 

[adurso]

Why do you experience chronic pain in your neck?

The cause my be reason for staying shallow and avoiding bubble formation as much as possible.

Check out Scubadoc's Diving Medicine
much information there. Dr. Campbell would answer questions in the past; I do not know if he still does

 

[Manxx]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
TC, your second paragraph might as well have been written by both my Scuba Doctor and DAN. I did ask DAN and I got their response a couple hours ago and they too mentioned a concern with Nerve problems that can result in symptoms masking those of DCS. My Doctor also mentioned that the nature of the injury would be like a magnet to nitrogen and suggested that if I did go to 66 feet, I only stay there for half the normal time.
The doctor didn't say I couldn't dive to 66 or 100 feet, just that if I mistook DCS for an aggrivated old neck injury I could adding total arm and leg paralysis to my list of problems. He said distinquishing the symptoms of one from the other would be near impossible.

Hey Adurso. I never mentioned chronic pain but a disc compression that buldges into the root nerve ganglia for the left arm as mine does, does result in chronic pain. I dealt with the pain problem over a year ago so there's only the occasional lingering throb that can spread down my arm and even into my hand.

 

[adurso]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
TC, your second paragraph might as well have been written by both my Scuba Doctor and DAN. I did ask DAN and I got their response a couple hours ago and they too mentioned a concern with Nerve problems that can result in symptoms masking those of DCS. My Doctor also mentioned that the nature of the injury would be like a magnet to nitrogen and suggested that if I did go to 66 feet, I only stay there for half the normal time.
The doctor didn't say I couldn't dive to 66 or 100 feet, just that if I mistook DCS for an aggrivated old neck injury I could adding total arm and leg paralysis to my list of problems. He said distinquishing the symptoms of one from the other would be near impossible.

Hey Adurso. I never mentioned chronic pain but a disc compression that buldges into the root nerve ganglia for the left arm as mine does, does result in chronic pain. I dealt with the pain problem over a year ago so there's only the occasional lingering throb that can spread down my arm and even into my hand.

This statement indicates chronic pain:"my normal ache in the neck"

Check out what Ernie says about cervical issues; if you had surgical intervention it was probably anterior discectomy with plating and fusion

 

[Manxx]

Mine would have been antieror but the neurosurgen deemd it not worth the risk given the reliability numbers, but we've departed from the question.

Difficulty continuing the sport in terms of getting dive buddies for 35 foot limited dives and places to dive at or less then 35 feet in southern Ontario. (i know there are tons in sourhtern US)

 

[seaducer]

I have no idea about your injury, and whether that could be a problem specific to off gassing or bubble collection. That is something you need to consult with medical professionals about (and it sounds like you are doing that).

As far as pain limiting your dive because it may mask DCS, I call shennanigans on that.

How many of us are in such great shape that we are never sore from moving gear around? Soreness after a day of diving, especially in a cold water location like Ontario, is simply a fact of life for most divers. If we were to limit our diving so that routine soreness would not be present so as to not mask DCS symptoms, most of us would not be diving ever.

I know some tec divers who would go so far as to list all their aches and pains before a dive, so as to compare those sensations to what they felt later on. Of course throwing doubles on and waddling across a wet deck, swimming around and then humping that gear up a ladder, back across the deck, not to mention moving it to and from the boat and car and house, makes these guys pretty sore too.

So, IMO (and I know NOTHING about medicine), if your injury itself predisposes you to DCS you need to be careful. On the other hand if the pain caused by that injury is all the doc is concerned about, I think that is an over reaction on the conservative side.

FWIW almost ALL of my very best dives were done above 40 feet, and my all time favorite dive was to a maximum of 16 feet, so if you need to limit your depths, there is no need to limit your experiences and fun.