Diving injury
Diving injury: An injury incurred from diving into water that is too shallow or has hidden hazards. These injuries may be to the head, neck, or spinal cord.
Many diving injuries result when persons –predominantly males aged 15-25 years — plunge into swimming pools or natural bodies of water such as rivers, streams, lakes, and oceans. In one study, 15 cases of quadriplegia were reported. One resulted from a dive into a swimming pool; the other 14 cases resulted from dives into rivers, streams, lakes, or oceans. Only three of these injured persons had objective evidence of the depth of the water at the time of injury, Most of the divers had underestimated it.
Droughts resulting in low water levels in rivers, lakes, and streams increase the risk of spinal cord injuries from diving, even in natural bodies of water previously considered safe. Because of extremely low water levels, no one should dive — even into a familiar body of water –until the depth of the water has been objectively measured.
Several strategies to prevent diving injuries have been suggested. The authorities can closely monitor water levels in natural bodies of water during periods of low rainfall and can post warning signs to alert potential divers of hazards. In some localities, public education and poster campaigns have been used, and areas that are too shallow for diving have been posted as being hazardous. Other strategies urge divers to determine the depth of the water by wading into it before diving or by first jumping feet first into the water.
Read Also:
- Dizygotic twin
Dizygotic twin: A twins who have shared a common uterine environment with its twin but is due to a different fertilized ovum. Dizygotic twins are also called fraternal twins.
- Dizziness
Surgery
- Dizziness, anxiety as a cause of
Dizziness, anxiety as a cause of: One cause of dizziness is over breathing (hyperventilation) due to anxiety. The over breathing also causes lightheadedness, a sense of unsteadiness and tingling around the mouth and fingertips.
- Dizziness, pre-syncopal
Dizziness, pre-syncopal: Dizziness before fainting. Some symptoms of dizziness such as wooziness, feeling about to black out, and tunnel vision may be pre-syncopal and are due to insufficient blood flow to the brain. These symptoms are typically worse when standing, improve with lying down and may be experienced by healthy individuals who rise quickly from […]
- Disease, subclinical
Disease, subclinical: An illness that stays “below the surface” of clinical detection. A subclinical disease has no or minimally recognizable clinical findings. It is distinct from a clinical disease, which has signs and symptoms that can be more easily recognized. Many diseases, including diabetes, hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, infections or cancers can be subclinical before surfacing […]