Frequency of "Skin Bends"?

vlada

I had a dozen or so skin hits in my 6 yrs of mix/ deco diving. Always on the shoulders, but location varies, can be left, can be right, can be both.

Mild itch, mild rush, no molting and skin remains painful afterwards for up to a week. Aside from one case when i had neuro symphoms, in all other cases, there were no other sympthoms, no joint pain, no muscle pain, just skin.

After my neuro hit, I had been diagnozed with the PFO,had it fixed in 2005 and confirmed closed - and continue to get skin bends. So, at least in my case, PFO was not a culprit.

I am still finding the solution to bends free diving. What worked for me so far was VPM +4 BE on V-planner or VPM on a VR3 with some extended shallow stops. Termal issue also seems to be a large factor - i have never got bent on Cold bottom time and Warm deco profiles (Typical Great Lakes) and only got couple of bends on warm/ warm or cold/cold - bulk of my bends were from warm bottom time (as if starting the dive while overheated in drysuit and then freezing my behind during deco). This will be addressed this season with heating jacket.

Good luck in your search for answers...

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Vlada

www.wrecksandreefs.com

bendomatic

the only time i had a skin bend it was a mix of patchy raised red rash from neck to mid-thigh with blue/black streaks and mottling on the torso wrapping around from front to back. it was also associated with burning diaphragm pain (first symptom i was aware of), increasing inability to breathe normally without coughing which O2 fixed, later i had enlargement of the lymph nodes in the torso and breast area- my tummy felt like bubble-wrap when i lay down. this was the third time for a bend - no bend for me has had the same symptoms. subsequently diagnosed with PFO with aneurysm (not quite as bad as you might think- just extra floppy) and had it closed in mid 2005 with no further incidence of any DCS symptoms (though i haven't dived for the last 7mo due to pregnancy).

i would agree with paul raymaekers, heavy loads play no part in my diving any more! this was after a dive with twin 12s and stages and while i took the stages off in water, it took a lot out of me to lug the twins out of the water. if its possible for de-kitting in water or having someone else lug it around that's what i will do.

rachel

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trimix

A-ha! I've never had a problem on boat dives, but on all the shore dives where I've had symptoms, we had a hefty hike uphill with stairs. My first Bend was with two stages hanging off me too. (Duh.)
Now I've scaled back the heavy lifting, taking a lot longer getting out of the water, using O2 for last two stops and for quite a while on the surface. And I'm getting really, really paranoid.
Maybe I'm just getting old and fat? Maybe dehydrated too.
Thanks for input, everybody!

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rhelsley

My experience with skin bends was after an OC deco dive several years back after diving a vpm-b profile cut from v-planner. The issue wasn't from the deco algorithm but I chose to help a fellow right his overturned 18' boat in shallow nearshore water shortly after the dive...very strenuous, jaw-clenching lifting and effort is what I attributed my episode to.

My symptoms was a patch of mottled-blotchy-red-purple-itchy skin on my upper chest and over my left shoulder. It was mostly cleared up by the next afternoon with no other symptoms, except something that I get after all dives, shallow or deep, deco or no deco.

I visited my local hyperbaric physician and described my skin bend, but more to describe a watery-squishy noise in my shoulder joints following most dives. I usually notice this condition when I'm showering in the evening following a day's dive or otherwise lifting my arms. I timed my doctors visit to occur immediately after a dive so he could hear for himself my physiological oddity. The physician was intrigued but had no definite answers, and assumed some kind of inflammation of the joints possibly due to heavy-shoulder loads or from arm movement during diving activities, but he didn't think the condition was related to dissolved gases.

Anyone else experience anything like this?


russell helsley

kybrt

I get it when i hold my camera up with one hand like superman. thats why i dont do that anymore..................

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Marv


Fidelis Ad Mortem
www.diveboatkaren.com