Confined
Water Dive Preview
Hyperventilation
works because the urge to breathe comes
from rising carbon dioxide in your body,
not from low oxygen. The three on four
breaths drop your body carbon dioxide
levels below normal, so when you hold
your breath it takes longer for the
levels to rise high enough m trigger
breathing.
If
you've never tried it, you may be amazed
how Well hyperventilation works - but
it's important that you limit it to
only three or four breaths. Excessive
hyperventilation – more than three
or four breaths - can be dangerous because
you can lower your carbon dioxide levels
so far that your body runs out of oxygen
before you get the urge to breathe.
This would lead to sudden unconsciousness
- with –out warning - and drowning.
Don't hyperventilate excessively.
Besides
limiting hyperventilation to three or
four deep, rapid breaths, rest a minute
or so between breath-hold dives so your
body can restore its normal oxygen level.
If you feel fatigued, dizzy or light-headed,
stop diving down. Float, relax and rest.
You
may be familiar with unintentional hyperventilation,
which results from anxiety or -tress,
and causes someone to breathe rapidly
Old shallowly. This leads to respiratory
difficulty, and contributes to the overexertion
and air starvation problems you learned
about earlier. By using proper diving
techniques, you'll normally avoid this,
but if you find yourself reacting to
stress and anxiety with rapid, shallow
breathing, force yourself to stop, breathe
slowly and relax.
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