Fear the Squeeze
Posted By Peter Scott on 7 April 2003
Looking for Answers
After my experience, I posted the details on the Canadian freediving forums and discovered that several new freedivers were flirting with lung squeeze. The freedivers most at risk were the ones trying to qualify for the AIDA World Cup in Kona, Hawaii.
Perry Gladstone, a contributor for Deeperblue, and a Team Canada hopeful in 2002, also ran into the same problem, with severe symptoms. And yet, when he sought advice as a patient and asked how he could avoid injury in the future, the experts in the field were unable to provide any definitive answers.
After my own searches turned up empty, I composed a letter to Dr. Claes Lundgren, Professor of Physiology at the State University of New York in Buffalo's Center for Research and Education in Special Environments, and to other experts in diving physiology, including Dr. Ernest Campbell at www.scuba-doc.com, Dr. David Sawatsky, (the "Diving Doctor"), Dr. Guido Ferretti, and many others. I outlined my assumptions about the lung at depth during a breath-hold dive and asked for a list of risk factors. Those who responded all pointed me to Dr. Lundgren, who has published a large number of scientific papers on breath-hold diving and edited and contributed to two hefty and expensive books on diving, The Lung at Depth and Physiology and Medicine of Diving. Too busy to engage in a discussion, Dr. Lundgren kindly sent me a copy of a chapter on breath-hold diving from the second book. In his email, he said that my ideas were interesting, but that many questions remain unanswered.
It would be great if we could use the miniaturized submersible from the 1966 science-fiction film The Fantastic Voyage to penetrate the alveoli and see first hand what happens during a deep dive. Unfortunately, we would still need test subjects willing to suffer lung squeeze for science (and a scientific research ethics board to allow it). For now, we are limited to anecdotal evidence, simulated laboratory experiments in a hyperbaric chamber, and unproven theories.
So here I lay out my theory of lung squeeze and its contributing factors, based on personal experience in my own dives and the hints provided by scientific research. I hope that someone with the expertise and opportunity will take up this important line of research and help prevent future injuries.
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