the advice I got was 10 mins between any dives below 6m. I worked with this for a few months after the bent but now keep it for any dives below about 20m which seems to keep the symptoms at bay. After the bends I got treated for, I had one month off freediving and six months off scuba.
Now I only scuba dive on nitrox (using air tables) and don't go below 30m
I don't have a PFO and had the test. One theory is that the bend was caused by slight lung damage - I had sustained some lung squeeze competing in Cyprus a few weeks before my accident - but that was never proven and by the time they checked my lungs (six weeks after the bend, 2 months after Cyprus) there was nothing to see.
I get mild symptoms now if I make say more than about 20 dives a day below about 15m. Drinking loads of water and some sleep gets rid of them but I do have my own O2 kit now and use that occasionally after a big day.
The doctors who treated me were at the Diving Diseases Research Centre in Plymouth, UK. They are very interested in freediving. It might be worth contacting them for some advice
www.ddrc.org
DAN may also be able to help. I don't think any doctor would recommend in water deco though!
Sam
