Decompression Illness (DCI) Explained
The Diving Medical Advisory Committee (DMAC) advises avoiding returning to diving for at least 3 months after IEDCS to allow your body to recover.
70-80% of divers who have had IEDCS will have an underlying hole in their heart called a patent foramen ovale (PFO). This allows nitrogen bubbles to shunt across into the arterial blood stream when you are diving and increases the risk of decompression illness. Your dive doctor will advise you to seek a bubble echocardiogram to investigate this. In the UK this investigation is not usually covered by the NHS and must be privately arranged.
PFOs can be different sizes and therefore represent a different level of risk when diving. In most cases you can continue diving within certain restrictions (15m maximum depth and 1 dive per day). Please see the joint SPUMS / UKDMC position statement for more information.
Many divers will be left with a residual deficit in their inner ear function despite treatment therefore it is important to consider whether you are safe to go back to diving at all as many factors such as poor visibility or swell may interfere in your ability to compensate for the damage to the inner ear.
It is important that you see a dive referee for a medical if you are thinking about returning to diving. A map of the UKDMC referees in the UK can be found here: