Hey guys,
I just had a significant trachea/lung squeeze and would love to get some advice/opinions/resources as I plan my recovery and getting back into the water. I’m training for the Caribbean Cup in Roatan at the end of May.
Age: 43
Diving experience: Did the FII level 1 in 2013. No real freediving practice until 15 Feb 2015. Been line diving 2-3 times per week since then.
Static apnea: 5 min 30 seconds (no packing or hyperventilation)
Past FIM PR: 40m in 2:16. 3 days before squeeze.
Squeeze Situation: Went out with my buddy on April 3.
-- I was likely overhydrated, drinking over 3 liters of water that morning to make up for a dehydrated camping weekend. I also did no eat any breakfast.
-- During warmups, I did two forced exhale dives (no reverse packs) to 10 meters (novice move, I know now). No noticeable problems after surfacing. 3 regular warm up dives to 20 meters.
-- Went for my FIM deep dive with a goal of 45 meters.
-- I haven’t done much packing in the past, but did 5 or 6 packs before heading down.
-- I flip (changing to feet down, head up) on my descent at around 25-30 meters to make equalization easier. So I did that, equalized and kept descending. I tried to ‘force’ an equalization around 40m when that wasn’t successful, I did a contraction to get more air and was able to equalize and continue to 45m (a new PR).
-- Normally ascending from depth is a relaxed and fun part of my dive. I can take my time and enjoy it. Not this time. Every pull was tiring and I felt like crap with lots of “why am I doing this” type of thoughts. Total dive time was 2:14.
-- When I reached the surface, I had fluid in my lungs. I was coughing up red foamy saliva and couldn’t get a full breath. We went to the hospital. I was able to clear my lungs of fluid within about an hour of the incident without any medical intervention. And felt fine at that point (except for being in a hospital).
-- My SpO2. I didn’t look at it during the emergency but it had returned to 95-99% within an hour of arrival at the hospital. And stayed in that range for the 16 hours they had me under observation (the medical team had no experience with freediving or the concept of a lung squeeze so were reasonably worried)
Two days later I feel great. I’ve had a little soreness in my throat when I do a full inhale but no further coughing. But I don’t want that to happen ever again. So my questions:
1) What are some good up-to-date resources and research about trachea/lung squeeze.
2) How long should I wait to get back into the water?
3) How long should I wait to start getting back to depth?
4) What do you think was the likely cause? The forced exhale 10m dives during warm up? Something that happened at depth? Could the high hydration have increased the risk? Could it have been caused by traditional barotrauma during the ascent because I had good blood shift during the dive? A combination of all of the above? I know none of us are squeeze experts, but I’m interested in experienced freedivers opinions.
5) Most important, what should I do to prevent this from happening again short of giving up the sport all together? No forced exhale dives? No packing? More or deeper warm up dives before going for 40m+?
I just had a significant trachea/lung squeeze and would love to get some advice/opinions/resources as I plan my recovery and getting back into the water. I’m training for the Caribbean Cup in Roatan at the end of May.
Age: 43
Diving experience: Did the FII level 1 in 2013. No real freediving practice until 15 Feb 2015. Been line diving 2-3 times per week since then.
Static apnea: 5 min 30 seconds (no packing or hyperventilation)
Past FIM PR: 40m in 2:16. 3 days before squeeze.
Squeeze Situation: Went out with my buddy on April 3.
-- I was likely overhydrated, drinking over 3 liters of water that morning to make up for a dehydrated camping weekend. I also did no eat any breakfast.
-- During warmups, I did two forced exhale dives (no reverse packs) to 10 meters (novice move, I know now). No noticeable problems after surfacing. 3 regular warm up dives to 20 meters.
-- Went for my FIM deep dive with a goal of 45 meters.
-- I haven’t done much packing in the past, but did 5 or 6 packs before heading down.
-- I flip (changing to feet down, head up) on my descent at around 25-30 meters to make equalization easier. So I did that, equalized and kept descending. I tried to ‘force’ an equalization around 40m when that wasn’t successful, I did a contraction to get more air and was able to equalize and continue to 45m (a new PR).
-- Normally ascending from depth is a relaxed and fun part of my dive. I can take my time and enjoy it. Not this time. Every pull was tiring and I felt like crap with lots of “why am I doing this” type of thoughts. Total dive time was 2:14.
-- When I reached the surface, I had fluid in my lungs. I was coughing up red foamy saliva and couldn’t get a full breath. We went to the hospital. I was able to clear my lungs of fluid within about an hour of the incident without any medical intervention. And felt fine at that point (except for being in a hospital).
-- My SpO2. I didn’t look at it during the emergency but it had returned to 95-99% within an hour of arrival at the hospital. And stayed in that range for the 16 hours they had me under observation (the medical team had no experience with freediving or the concept of a lung squeeze so were reasonably worried)
Two days later I feel great. I’ve had a little soreness in my throat when I do a full inhale but no further coughing. But I don’t want that to happen ever again. So my questions:
1) What are some good up-to-date resources and research about trachea/lung squeeze.
2) How long should I wait to get back into the water?
3) How long should I wait to start getting back to depth?
4) What do you think was the likely cause? The forced exhale 10m dives during warm up? Something that happened at depth? Could the high hydration have increased the risk? Could it have been caused by traditional barotrauma during the ascent because I had good blood shift during the dive? A combination of all of the above? I know none of us are squeeze experts, but I’m interested in experienced freedivers opinions.
5) Most important, what should I do to prevent this from happening again short of giving up the sport all together? No forced exhale dives? No packing? More or deeper warm up dives before going for 40m+?