I'm a rather new swimmer (1 1/2 months) and the other day I had a bad experience when I got out of the pool. The second I jumped out, I got the worst cramp ever! And it wasn't exactly in my stomache, more in my pelvic area. But I couldn't stand straight upright for 3 hours, I could only sit in a chair bending over grabbing my legs for leverage. I finally just took a hot bath and it went away, but I've never felt anything like it before. Just trying to stand in an upright position hurt so bad and I'd almost involuntarily bend back over. Just curious what this is and how to avoid it. I've heard of the bends, but maybe that has to do with divers ???
Rest assured that you are not experiencing the bends.
Decompression sickness, also known as the bends, is associated with SCUBA diving, where you are breathing compressed air underwater at higher atmosphere of pressure.
For example, on land at sea level, the air around us has a pressure of 14.7 PSI (pounds per square inch), or 1 atmosphere. That is a "normal pressure" for our bodies. Because water is so heavy compared to air, it does not take much water to exert a lot of pressure. For every 33 feet below the surface, the water adds another atmosphere of pressure.
At these higher pressures, greater quantities of gasses from breathing are dissolved and absorbed into the blood stream and other body tissues. If a SCUBA diver stays under water, say at a depth of 100 feet (about 30 meters), for a certain period of time, some amount of nitrogen from the air will dissolve in the water in his or her body. If the diver were to swim quickly to the surface, it is just like uncorking a bottle of soda -- the gas is released in the blood stream. This can cause a very painful condition, and it is sometimes fatal
Rest assured that you are not experiencing the bends.
Decompression sickness, also known as the bends, is associated with SCUBA diving, where you are breathing compressed air underwater at higher atmosphere of pressure.
For example, on land at sea level, the air around us has a pressure of 14.7 PSI (pounds per square inch), or 1 atmosphere. That is a "normal pressure" for our bodies. Because water is so heavy compared to air, it does not take much water to exert a lot of pressure. For every 33 feet below the surface, the water adds another atmosphere of pressure.
At these higher pressures, greater quantities of gasses from breathing are dissolved and absorbed into the blood stream and other body tissues. If a SCUBA diver stays under water, say at a depth of 100 feet (about 30 meters), for a certain period of time, some amount of nitrogen from the air will dissolve in the water in his or her body. If the diver were to swim quickly to the surface, it is just like uncorking a bottle of soda -- the gas is released in the blood stream. This can cause a very painful condition, and it is sometimes fatal
