Long Term damage caused by Free Diving?

[Resonate]

I have been fascinated with the idea of free diving for a few months now. I haven't really tried anything like it yet, except swimming underwater for as long as a can. I love the feeling, and I love how calm it makes me.

The main thing I am concerned about before I look into this more is the possibility of damage to the brain/body. I am trying to research this more. Does going without oxygen for 1-2 minutes cause damage to the brain? I value my mind, just as I value my eyes and ears. I am aware that there are dangers of this, but I am mostly concerned about long term dangers that can't be avoided. Any information is appreciated!

Another question: Even when my head is 2-3 feet under water, I feel the pressure building in my ears. I have tried to equalize them by performing the valsalva maneuver, but I can't seem to do it underwater. Any ideas?

I am a helicopter pilot, so I am used to having to equalize my ears, although the pressure underwater is much greater.

Thank you for any and all help! I look forward to spending some time in the water!

 

[cdavis]

Welcome to DB, Resonate. There is at least one other chopper pilot on here.

Brain damage from breath holding is mostly a old wives tale, BS as far as how most divers dive. If you are extreme enough to keep on having multiple, repeated black outs, maybe, otherwise don't worry about it.

Equalization, learn Frenzel. Otherwise, slow down. Getting more relaxed helps equalization, starting to equalize before you dive and continuously thereafter also helps a lot.

 

[aharon solomons]

Long term damage from freediving - Divorce ?

 

[jschultzdanmark]

Hello Resonate

'without oxygen' is not entirely correct. The oxygen level in your blood is more than sufficient for a 1-2 minute breath hold and also much much more. I'm with cdavis on this - if you were to intentionally inflict oxygen deprivation damage to your brain from freediving, you'd have to behave extremely reckless for a number of times, provoking blackouts and extending the time before regaining consciousness each time.

Even a blackout in itself is not dangerous for the brain, *if* you have your buddy close by and he/she does the correct thing, ie. surfacing, slapping, blowing, talking and so on. A blackout is the bodys last defence against oxygen deprivation and simply shuts everything down so that the brain may have optimal use of the last oxygen in the blood stream.

The 'whole system' is set up so as to protect the brain, and freediving - when performed safely (with a buddy) - is by no means a risk to your brain

Equalization - when you already have equalization down cold from your job, I would venture a guess that the problem is one of relaxation. You could try 'heads up' diving, ie. feet first, making sure to equalize frequently. A common problem for beginners is often, that they dive too deep before starting equalizing, thus making the initial equalization to hard.

Start 'popping' right from the start when your head goes below the surface - should be a breeze

 

[Resonate]

There is much less pressure on my ears in the air, so it is much easier to equalize there.

I've been thinking about equalization in the water. Say I "pressurize" my ears prior to going under (like when you perform the valsalva maneuver, you can feel your ears "inflate" for lack of a better word), in theory, that would mean I don't have to equalize as soon? I am simply curious, not necessarily something I will try. I'm just trying to understand this concept a little better. Hopefully that makes sense.

Also, a final thought. Has there ever been a situation where a freediver (or a scuba diver for that matter) has lost reference to which way is up and ended up swimming the wrong direction? I suppose the sun would make it fairly clear which way to go. I'm just curious.

 

[sam18]

I equalize just before I dive on the surface an then again at about 2m.
I think its pretty easy to know which direction is up as you can just let a bubble go and watch it

 

[Simos]

There is much less pressure on my ears in the air, so it is much easier to equalize there.

I've been thinking about equalization in the water. Say I "pressurize" my ears prior to going under (like when you perform the valsalva maneuver, you can feel your ears "inflate" for lack of a better word), in theory, that would mean I don't have to equalize as soon? I am simply curious, not necessarily something I will try. I'm just trying to understand this concept a little better. Hopefully that makes sense.

Also, a final thought. Has there ever been a situation where a freediver (or a scuba diver for that matter) has lost reference to which way is up and ended up swimming the wrong direction? I suppose the sun would make it fairly clear which way to go. I'm just curious.

1. You should still equalise ASAP but pre-pressurising (that feeling of 'inflating') takes the edge off the initial pressure gradient and opens the e-tubes

2. I am sure it's possible to lose reference of up/down in freediver, especially if you are really deep and/or bad viz/poor light conditions. If it happens to you, you can blow out a small air bubble and see where it goes and figure out where is 'up'. In scuba I'd imagine is more difficult to get confused as you have the bubbles as reference. Maybe if you are narc'd you'd get confused too

 

[Resonate]

Great. I guess I should have thought about bubbles.

Next question. Do you know of anywhere in Oregon that gives freediving classes? How much do these classes normally cost?

 

[JennyWren]

Hi Resonate, you could try getting in touch with Wes (DeeperBlue.com Forums - View Profile: wes) who lives in Oregon. He's also a pretty cool guy

I'll be in Oregon on the weekend but not for freediving unfortunately!

PFI runs courses in Vancouver so if you don't mind going a bit farther afield that might be an option. I took their course and found it to be really really good.

Performance Freediving International

 

[AZ Rob]

Free diving wont kill me, but the 1/2 a pack a day might.rofl

 

[DannyAbel]

Thank you for your sharing ! I begin to learn free diving.I didn't know that the diving can cause damage to the body especially the brain, the eyes , the ears.I will pay attention to it in the future.God Bless you.