I am more and more frequently asked questions about lung squeeze. For some reason, incidences of lung/trachea squeeze seem to be getting more frequent .

This can be frightening if it is not better understood. Most of the “lung” squeezes, are in fact, micro tares of the small blood vessels in the Trachea .

Pulmonary is, in fact, much rarer in freediving. The symptoms of Trachea squeeze are coughing on surfacing, blood in the sputum, dark red in color, blood from the lungs is pink and sometimes frothy.

The Trachea is a semi-rigid, non compressible part of the tubing, and so susceptible to damage.

Coughing and difficulty in catching a full breath on surfacing -�are not of themselves indicative of a lung squeeze, more likely Trachea! However, if they are combined with LMC or fainting – this requires an immediate visit to a doctor.

The most common causes of Trachea squeeze are:

• COLD An in adequate wet suit in cold conditions.
• TENSION in the area of the throat due to cold or stress
• BIG JUMPS IN. GAINING DEPTH i.e. going from a personal best of 40mts to 46 mts ,
• RETURNING TO A FORMER P.B. after not having dived for several weeks or months
• FORCING AN EQUALISATION particularly in depths greater than 40mts and worse when you are cold.
• RECOVERING AIR , trying forcefully to recover air for a mouthfill or 1 more equalisation at depth by an aggressive lifting of the diaphragm or using a kind of reverse packing movement .

Not all E.N.T. specialists have an understanding of freediving physiology and will usually diagnose any problem like this as �Lung Squeeze�. If you have a problem that persists more than 24hrs or is a persistently reoccurring problem the best advice is to seek help from an expert in Hyper baric medicine ( for a doctor in your area consult the DAN insurance hot line ).

We are ,at the moment, collecting statistics on incidences that are not apparently caused by 1 or more of the above explanations, and investigating a possible link to air packing. So do let us know of any occurrence that you know of or have experienced that cannot be explained by any of the listed explanations.

LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEXT BLOG WHICH WILL BE ON THE ALL IMPORTANT SUBJECT OF THE MENTAL /PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF DIVING .