I recently went snorkeling in Mexico. Our
leader took us deep inside a cenote where
there wasn't much oxygen. I was breathing
deep already from swimming through there,
I was cold, and then we had to dip under
the water to go into the last cave, and I
came up trying to catch my breath but I
could not since there was a lack of
oxygen. I tried to stay calm, but I was
worried. She took us back, and when we got
out of the water, my fingers felt like
they were going numb and they were
tingling. Some said maybe it was because
they were cold, but they were not cold to
the touch. One said it was from
hyper-ventilation. Does anyone know what
this would be caused from?
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CarolDiane
Moderator
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2218 Location: Finally a picture to a name,
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Posted: 11-08-07 12:17pm
Most likely sounds like "hypothermia".
Just like in a snow storm if you are
walking without enough warmth or
insulation on you feet, your toes will get
numb and tiggle. Same thing with very cold
water. Yes, sound very much like
hypothermina.
Bet your finger were the only thing
exposed. The rest had gear on right? If
the water was that deep maybe you should
have had some decomppression of some kind
afterward.
Carrie
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yippidee
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 4
Posted: 11-08-07 12:32pm
Well we were not going down deep in the
water, just staying on the surface but
going far into the cave system. Cenotes
are underground caves with fresh water
flowing through them.
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CarolDiane
Moderator
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2218 Location: Finally a picture to a name,
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Posted: 11-08-07 12:44pm
OK, my question is was the water still
pretty cold and were your hands exposed?
Carrie
|
yippidee
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 08 Nov 2007 Posts: 4
Posted: 11-08-07 13:17pm
yes the water was cold and no covering
anywhere on my body but a bathing suit.
There were a total of 12 people, and I was
the only one with tingling finger tips
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CarolDiane
Moderator
Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Posts: 2218 Location: Finally a picture to a name,
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Thanked:121
Posted: 11-08-07 13:27pm
Well, in that case, the only thing I can
think of is that perphaps the fact you
might have been using you fingers at the
time and might have had to do with the
circulation in them. But, it really does
sound like hypothermia. But, again I could
be wrong. This is the first time this has
happened to you in cold water?
Any other idea's here from anyone else
what this could be?
Carrie
|
Jende555
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 3
Posted: 01-23-08 17:57pm
I typed in "tingling fingertips" into a
search engine to find out what happened
after i came back from snorkeling in
Dominican Republic, believe it or not.
We'd snorkeled for about 1/2 an hour, just
with regular snorkeling masks and then
taken a fast boat ride back to our hotel.
My fingertips were really tingly for about
1/2 hour or so. They were also wrinkled
from being in the water. The three people
I was with had no problems at all. The
water in DR and Mexico is definitely NOT
cold enough to get hypothermia from - not
even close. I don't know what it was
either. Looking to find out.
|
Jende555
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 3
Posted: 01-23-08 17:57pm
I typed in "tingling fingertips" into a
search engine to find out what happened
after i came back from snorkeling in
Dominican Republic, believe it or not.
We'd snorkeled for about 1/2 an hour, just
with regular snorkeling masks and then
taken a fast boat ride back to our hotel.
My fingertips were really tingly for about
1/2 hour or so. They were also wrinkled
from being in the water. The three people
I was with had no problems at all. The
water in DR and Mexico is definitely NOT
cold enough to get hypothermia from - not
even close. I don't know what it was
either. Looking to find out.
|
Jende555
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 23 Jan 2008 Posts: 3
Posted: 01-23-08 17:57pm
I typed in "tingling fingertips" into a
search engine to find out what happened
after i came back from snorkeling in
Dominican Republic, believe it or not.
We'd snorkeled for about 1/2 an hour, just
with regular snorkeling masks and then
taken a fast boat ride back to our hotel.
My fingertips were really tingly for about
1/2 hour or so. They were also wrinkled
from being in the water. The three people
I was with had no problems at all. The
water in DR and Mexico is definitely NOT
cold enough to get hypothermia from - not
even close. I don't know what it was
either. Looking to find out.
|
Galaxy
Supporter
Joined: 15 Mar 2006 Posts: 512 Location: U.K,
Thanks: 5
Thanked:0
Posted: 01-23-08 18:06pm
Sounds like you were suffering from
hypoxia, a symptom of which is tingling
fingertips. Hypoxia is generally caused
by a loss of air pressure so, for whatever
reason, you were more affected by the loss
of air pressure in the cave than the
others.
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