Well, I did something stupid and ended up in the hospital for two days with 3 broken ribs, punctured lung, a pneumothorax and cracked scapula. The bad news is no diving for 8 weeks. The good news is, it will all heal and I learned a lot of interesting stuff.
The docs wanted me to do frequent deep breathing to ward off pneumonia and gave me a spirometer(a gadget which measures lung capacity that I had wanted) to help me keep track. I tried it and the first attempt was horrifying to me, only 2000ml. The tech said most pneumorthorax suffers can't do 1000. Intrigued, I started working on the spirometer. About the 4th try, I maxed it out, 4250 ml., well short of my normal capacity, but considering the situation, reasonable. Mentioned this to the two thoracic docs who came to examine me and it was clear that one flat did not believe me. So, I picked it up and maxed it out. Her eyes got big with surprise and both said they had never seen anyone who could do that, to my considerable surprise. Few free divers would have any trouble. Further discussion and I discovered that most people my age(71) could barely manage 1500-2000. Talked to a nurse of long experience and she had only seen one person who could max out a spirometer, also a freediver. On another front, the X-ray techs that took my lung x-rays had to take two pics to get all the lungs and all commented on how long my lungs were. Asked the docs if this was genetic or training. They said, both(I’m tall, 6’1” ), but probably it was mostly training. I’ve been diving for 55 years and training for the last 14, which brings me to how all this affects you young divers.
Keeping your lung capacity up as you age is crazy good for you in all kinds of ways. Keep diving, guys and girls, its good for you.
The docs wanted me to do frequent deep breathing to ward off pneumonia and gave me a spirometer(a gadget which measures lung capacity that I had wanted) to help me keep track. I tried it and the first attempt was horrifying to me, only 2000ml. The tech said most pneumorthorax suffers can't do 1000. Intrigued, I started working on the spirometer. About the 4th try, I maxed it out, 4250 ml., well short of my normal capacity, but considering the situation, reasonable. Mentioned this to the two thoracic docs who came to examine me and it was clear that one flat did not believe me. So, I picked it up and maxed it out. Her eyes got big with surprise and both said they had never seen anyone who could do that, to my considerable surprise. Few free divers would have any trouble. Further discussion and I discovered that most people my age(71) could barely manage 1500-2000. Talked to a nurse of long experience and she had only seen one person who could max out a spirometer, also a freediver. On another front, the X-ray techs that took my lung x-rays had to take two pics to get all the lungs and all commented on how long my lungs were. Asked the docs if this was genetic or training. They said, both(I’m tall, 6’1” ), but probably it was mostly training. I’ve been diving for 55 years and training for the last 14, which brings me to how all this affects you young divers.
Keeping your lung capacity up as you age is crazy good for you in all kinds of ways. Keep diving, guys and girls, its good for you.