The Truth About Diving and Flying
Scuba diving is a safe activity that is no longer considered an extreme sport. However, there are potential health risks for practising unsafe diving with Decompression Sickness (DCS) found to be a common scuba diving injury. Divers tend to organize diving trips to discover more exotic organisms that often involve flying over to the place. Consequently, they will be required to fly back home after the end of a scuba dive trip. However, there is a risk of suffering decompression sickness for people who fly immediately after a scuba dive. This because the diver’s blood-nitrogen level increases when diving at depth and will need time to be released slowly before returning to normal. Therefore, after diving, the diver must avoid getting into an area of low pressure, such as flying an aircraft or climbing a mountain.
How long do scuba divers have to wait?
Major dive organizations suggest a fixed time for flying after diving, which is the time when you exit the water until the time you board the plane. The US Navy tables recommend waiting 12 to 18 hours after scuba diving to travel on an aeroplane to avoid injuries. The idea behind this wait recommendation is to give yourself plenty of time to off-gas the nitrogen build-up in the body. It is especially essential for anyone who has done repeated scuba dives over several days to give themselves time and opportunity to release nitrogen and return to normal levels. In case a person flies immediately after scuba diving, then the nitrogen can become saturated in the body’s tissues, causing pain in joints.
The risks of flying after scuba diving
Scuba diving after flying is okay, but flying immediately after a scuba dive is considered risky due to the risks of decompression sickness and lung overexpansion injury. These conditions can be fatal in extreme cases caused by too much nitrogen in the blood that escapes into the body’s tissues. It mostly happens when a person breathes in compressed air deep underwater, causing the body to create more nitrogen than usual. In scuba diving, the pressurized breathing air forms small gas bubbles in the body that can enter into tissues in low altitudes. The relationship between height and diving is the primary factor involved in this case of scuba diving and flying. Therefore, all divers are required to sign a medical document before learning to scuba dive and should always take the precaution of drinking non-alcoholic drinks before and after every dive.
Activities to ensure safe scuba diving
It is unsafe for divers to be at an altitude, such as flying or climbing a mountain after scuba diving. Therefore, all divers should take caution of staying a recommended number of hours before getting on a plane. Experts have also cautioned against deep tissue massage for scuba divers because it leads to increased blood flow and risk of muscle soreness that can lead to DCS. Instead, a gentle relaxation massage is considered okay for divers. At the same time, divers should not stay at depths greater than 10 meters for too long since breathing compressed air at depth causes the build-up of excess nitrogen in the bloodstream.