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What happens if you get the bends?
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Bubbles forming in or near joints are the presumed cause of joint pain (the bends). With high levels of bubbles, complex reactions can take place in the body. The spinal cord and brain are usually affected, causing numbness, paralysis, impaired coordination and disorders of higher cerebral function.
Symptoms of the bends include: Joint pain: Gas bubbles can get stuck in joints and stretch ligaments and tendons in ways they shouldn’t. The result is a deep and throbbing pain that you feel inside your joint. The elbow and shoulder are the most common spots, but you can also get the bends in your knees and hips.
Can you survive the bends?
Prognosis or outlook of people who develop the bends varies with the following factors: Prognosis is good with hyperbaric oxygen treatment. Delay to hyperbaric oxygen treatment: Although reports show that divers can do well after days of symptoms, delay in definitive treatment may cause damage that is irreversible.
Decompression sickness (DCS), known as ‘the bends’ because of the associated joint pain, is a potentially deadly condition caused by bubbles of nitrogen gas forming in the blood and tissues. It’s most common among divers using scuba tanks, but can affect free-divers and people at high altitude.
What happens if you get the bends? – Related Questions
How quickly do you get the bends?
Symptoms of DCS can occur immediately after surfacing or up to 24 hours later. On average a diver with DCS will experience symptoms between 15 minutes and 12 hours following a dive.
How long does it take for the bends to go away?
They don’t get worse unless that diver swims deeper. Symptoms start to become more serious at a depth of about 300 feet. Once a diver returns to the water’s surface, the symptoms usually go away within a few minutes.
How far down do you have to worry about the bends?
At what depth do the bends occur? Most often, the bends are a real concern after 30 feet (9.1 m). The deeper you go, the more likely you are to run into the bends if you surface too quickly. Once you dive deeper than 30 feet (9.1 m), the bends become a serious potential problem.
What does the bends feel like?
fatigue, low back pain, paralysis or numbness of the legs, and. weakness or numbness in the arms.
How likely is it to get the bends?
Joint pain (“the bends”) accounts for about 60% to 70% of all altitude DCS cases, with the shoulder being the most common site for altitude and bounce diving, and the knees and hip joints for saturation and compressed air work.
Hyperbaric treatment can take as long as 12 hours or more depending on the severity of symptoms. The chamber is a pressurized environment which reduces the size of the bubbles and helps them to be reabsorbed. It also provides large amounts of oxygen to the damaged tissues.
How far down is bends?
The Bends/DCS in very simple terms
Anyone who dives deeper than 10 metres (30ft.) while breathing air from a scuba tank is affecting the balance of gases inside the tissues of their body.
How do free divers not get the bends?
Decompression sickness (DCS) after freediving is very rare. Freedivers simply do not on-gas enough nitrogen to provoke DCS. Thus, very few cases of DCS in freedivers have ever been reported, and these have involved repeated deep dives in a short time frame.
What bends does not break?
“Bamboo is flexible, bending with the wind but never breaking, capable of adapting to any circumstance. It suggests resilience, meaning that we have the ability to bounce back even from the most difficult times. . . .
What are the 4 types of bends?
Most tubes, though, are bent one of four ways: ram-type bending, roll bending, compression bending, or rotary draw bending. Pipe is specified by its nominal pipe size, while tube is specified by its outside diameter.
What are the three types of bends?
If you’re a newbie to metal fabrication, here’s a refresher on the essentials of bending. Air bending, bottom bending and coining are the three main types employed by precision metal fabricators.
You should always avoid braking on a bend, but there will be occasions when there is no option. A pedestrian may step out into your path or you may overestimate the safe speed. When it is necessary to brake, apply pressure as lightly as possible to the pedal to avoid asking too much from the tyres.
Why should you keep to the left on a bend?
Explanation: Keeping to the left as you approach right-hand bends will give you an earlier view around the bend and enable you to see any hazards sooner. It also reduces the risk of collision with any oncoming vehicle that may have drifted over the centre line while taking the bend.
Do you press on the gas when turning?
If you need to turn, you can release the pressure on the gas pedal slightly to slow down before turning the wheel. Once you’re in the turn, gently press down on the gas pedal to maintain your speed. Remember to turn the wheel smoothly and not to jerk it, as this can cause the car to lose control.