Seeking Medical Freediving Advice

My name is RickWaines and I live in Vancouver British Columbia. I have recently completed the FII level one freediving course. I had such a great time. I have a bleeding disorder, hemophilia factor 8 and I am attempting to assess properly what additional risk I may be at while freediving. My intention is to make as informed a decision as possible before continuing my studies. I should first say I have no aspirations to compete. I am simply interested in developing my skills within my own personal limits. Hemophilia is a rare bleeding disorder that not too many people are that knowledgeable about and conversely, not too many hematologists are very familiar with free diving. So, what I am attempting to do is facilitate a phone conversation between my hematologist and someone who can talk "Dr talk" (preferably a Dr I guess). This person would know the physiological demands of free diving in a meaningful way. They would be an expert I guess. My hematologist is as knowledgeable about my condition as anyone alive and I would like to find her counterpart in the Freediving world. Would anyone out there that fits meets the above description consider having a theoretical conversation about the risks of freediving, especially barotrauma? If so. let me know and I can put you in touch with my nurse practitioner who would then coordinate a phone call between you and my Dr.

Sincerely, Rick Waines

Thank you Apneaddict and cdavis

I am currently "certified" to 66 feet. I would like to set a modest goal of 100 feet so no super human depths but I guess what I am mostly looking for is for a meeting of the minds between my hemotologist and someone who is an the science of freediving. And so I will check out the science forum more thoroughly and contactin DAN is a great idea.

Apneaddict said:

At 100 ft (30m) you can get a squeeze.

I've been (trachea) squeezed in 4m on exhale.

If a lung squeeze like this happened to you... It could be bad... Especially because we often dive miles away from shore and a long time away from a hospital.

In my non-medical opinion... Tread lightly.


I LOVE underwater sports and all things apnea, so I get it... But I'd get used to playing UWH and pool freediving if I were you.

Click to expand...

Thank you again Apneaddict. I think the point of this excursion though is to explore the mechanisms of bleeding which I control with medication and the risks of freediving a little more scientifically. SCUBA used to be a contraindicated to someone with a bleeding disorder like mine but when they spent a little time actually asking the questions and addressing the risks it was determined that there were no additional risks to someone like me. Now, I know the freediving is a very different activity but the example fits: Have people with the expertise have the conversation.