What happens if you start coughing while scuba diving?

It's perfectly alright to cough into your regulator until your airway is clear. If you feel that telltale tickle in the back of your throat, try to move into an open area where you won't bump into anything. Also, be aware of your buoyancy when coughing while scuba diving, as you may unknowingly hold your breath.

Is it OK to dive with a cough?

3. Avoid diving too soon after a chest cold or respiratory infection. This means that no matter how good you feel, don't dive if you are coughing up mucus, or if your breathing produces any abnormal noise or resistance.

Is it OK to scuba dive with a cold?

Any diver, proud to be so, knows ears, nose, and lungs have to work properly, otherwise, it could be an important drawback. Diving with a cold would not allow you to compensate during the descend. On the other hand, reverse-compression could happen on the way back up. So, diving with a cold is not recommended.

Can your lungs explode while scuba diving?

Pulmonary barotrauma (pulmonary overpressurization syndrome, POPS, or burst lung) can occur if the diver fails to expel air from the lungs during ascent. As the diver rises, the volume of the gas in the lung expands and can cause damage if the excess is not exhaled.

What happens if you puke while scuba diving?

The vomit will be forced out the regulator in the same way your exhaled breath is. Nothing will get into your air supply because air does not flow back into your cylinder.

What happens If you hold your breath while scuba diving and freediving

What happens if you sneeze underwater?

The topic of underwater sneezing has come up in a number of scuba diving forums, and the consensus seems to be that sneezing underwater is pretty much exactly like sneezing on land.

Is it possible to vomit underwater?

While there are many causes for nausea and vomiting, the most common while diving are seasickness and salt water aspiration. Salt water aspiration usually occurs while surface swimming or snorkeling. It can also come from a leaking exhaust valve in the second stage of the regulator.

What happens if you ascend too fast?

Decompression sickness. Often called "the bends," decompression sickness happens when a scuba diver ascends too quickly. Divers breathe compressed air that contains nitrogen. At higher pressure under water, the nitrogen gas goes into the body's tissues.

What happens if you inhale water while diving?

Dealing with water up your nose can be a significant problem for some divers. The effect of inhaling small amounts of water, or even the fear of that occurring, can cause some divers to spiral into a cycle of perceptual narrowing and — in some extreme cases — full panic.

What happens if a diver comes up too fast?

If a diver ascends too quickly, the nitrogen gas in his body will expand at such a rate that he is unable to eliminate it efficiently, and the nitrogen will form small bubbles in his tissues. This is known as decompression sickness, and can be very painful, lead to tissue death, and even be life threatening.

Why do I spit blood after scuba diving?

The barotrauma that results when the sinuses are not equalized can cause blood vessels in the lining of the nose to burst. These vessels lie very close to the mucous membranes that line the nose and sinuses, and the blood can come from either of these linings.

Why do I spit blood after diving?

During Descent (Squeeze)

The capillary vessels of the mucous membranes lining the sinuses engorge and burst, likely filling the sinuses with blood until the negative pressure is equalized. At this point the pain usually resolves or diminishes, and the diver continues the dive.

Can I dive with a stuffy nose?

If you do a self-assessment and you have persistent or worsening congestion and any other symptoms, you should consider yourself sick. Then the question is whether you're too sick to dive. A relentlessly blocked-up head is unsafe for scuba. You won't be able to clear your ears and sinuses while descending.

What is the golden rule of scuba diving?

1. Never hold your breath. This is undoubtedly by far the most crucial of all safety rules for diving because failure to adhere could result in fatality. If you hold your breath underwater at the depths at which scuba divers reach then the fluctuating pressure of air in your lungs can rupture the lung walls.

Can you get pneumonia from scuba diving?

It directly affects the lungs ability to move air and may affect the normal gas exchange. Furthermore, it can lead to a bacterial pneumonia. For a diver, the optimal function of the pulmonary system is of paramount importance to his or her safety and ability to dive.

Can I dive with a runny nose?

Your symptoms can be just like a severe head cold — runny nose, sneezing, coughing and fatigue. If you are suffering from an acute episode due to hay fever, the recommendation is the same as a head cold, and you should not dive.

What is second drowning?

Secondary drowning or dry drowning occurs when an individual inhales water due to a near drowning or struggle in the water. A person who experiences a drowning “close call” can be out of the water and walking around as if all is normal before signs of dry drowning become apparent.

When should I be concerned about dry drowning?

"If your child has fallen into the water, has nearly drowned or has inhaled a small amount of water, be aware of the risk and monitor them," says Dunn. If they start to develop symptoms or feel ill, recognise that this could be linked to when they were swimming and seek medical attention straight away.

What happens if you don't decompress after diving?

Commonly referred to as the bends, caisson disease, or divers sickness / disease, decompression sickness or DCS is what happens to divers when nitrogen bubbles build up in the body and are not properly dissolved before resurfacing, leading to symptoms such as joint pain, dizziness, extreme fatigue, paralysis, and ...

Can you get the bends at 20 feet?

I asked the instructor and he said at 20 feet no one gets DCS/DCI/Bends, and not to worry. They do certification at max 30 feet so they don't have to worry about Bends.

How deep can you free dive?

For most swimmers, a depth of 20 feet (6.09 metres) is the most they will free dive. Experienced divers can safely dive to a depth of 40 feet (12.19 metres) when exploring underwater reefs. When free diving the body goes through several changes to help with acclimatisation.

What is the most common diving emergency?

The most common injury in divers is ear barotrauma (Box 3-03). On descent, failure to equalize pressure changes within the middle ear space creates a pressure gradient across the eardrum.

How do scuba divers clear their ears?

VALSALVA MANEUVER | Pinch Your Nose and Blow

This is the method most divers learn: Pinch your nostrils (or close them against your mask skirt) and blow through your nose. The resulting overpressure in your throat usually forces air up your Eustachian tubes.

Can you yawn while diving?

Yawning underwater is one of the most basic milestones in scuba diving. It's almost as easy as farting underwater.