A week ago, we published a blog post about how to exercise safety when diving. One of the things that we wished to expand but weren’t able to was about decompression. To be more specific, decompression sickness.

Why should this thing matter? Decompression sickness (DCS) remains to be one of the biggest risks when diving in Cebu or anywhere else in the world. In a 2010 report from the Divers Alert Network, at least 41 of more than 130,000 divers experienced DCS. Of course, times have changed, and rules have been improved, but still, if you’re not careful, it can lead to serious complications, including death.

But before we get into more details about DCS, let’s talk about a very important factor when diving: pressure.

Pressure or force per area is all around us: it’s in the air, and it’s in the water. This is the reason why pilots also experience decompression. Compared to air, however, water, is much denser and thus exerts more pressure. And based on calculations, the pressure underwater goes up by 64 pounds per square foot, which means the deeper you get, the more pressure you have to deal with.

This pressure compresses you, particularly your lungs since they’re not “rigid containers.” In order to bring in more air into your body so you can breathe, they should be able to compensate for the extra pressure. This is where your scuba gear, particularly your tank, comes in. The equipment helps you breathe by canceling the pressure—that is, matching the water pressure.

Your tank is a combination of gases mainly nitrogen and oxygen, which are the same ones that make up the air. Each of them contributes to partial pressure, which is then expressed by percentage volume. The amount of partial pressure increases the deeper a diver gets.

Here’s Why Decompression Happens

The gases you breathe underwater are dissolved. The great thing about oxygen is it’s used by the body. Nitrogen, on the other hand, isn’t. Due to a combination of factors including depth, time spent underwater, and ascent, decompression sickness occurs when nitrogen goes out of the solution then invades the organs and tissues of the body such as the joints. This is why it’s also called the bends.

Joint pains are not the only issues with DCS. A diver can also have:

Itchy skin

Skin rashes

Painful and swollen glands

Fatigue

In its worst case, the lungs can be severely affected, especially if arterial gas embolism (AGE) occurs. This happens when the bubbles form into a clot, blocking the flow of blood in the vessels. This can spell necrosis or death of tissues, such as those of the heart.

So far, there’s no step that can ever guarantee you won’t experience DCS, but there are ways on how to significantly reduce the chances. One of these is to ascent slowly. This is to give nitrogen gas the ability to expand. You can also limit the time you spent underwater when diving in Cebu. Don’t forget to make sure you’re in perfect health to dive as respiratory conditions like asthma can potentially increase your risk of DCS and AGE.