What do divers call decompression sickness?

Answer 1

Decompression sickness is the term used to describe the medical condition known as acute embolism caused by a sudden loss of air pressure. This disease is characterized by the appearance of small bubbles and inflammation at subcutaneous, but unequivocal symptom is the appearance of a strong pain, which affects various parts of the body. Certain body regions may suffer temporary paralysis and sometimes permanent injuries occur and even death.

This decompression sickness is also known as "the bends" or "evil pressure."

Addition

Decompression sickness (DCS) and embolisms are two different things. DCS is caused from the gas a diver absorbs during a dive coming out of solution in a divers tissue and thus bubbling. These bubbles push on nerves in the body causing pain as well as an injury. The two common types of DCS are know as Type I (pain only bends) and Type II (central nervous system bends). It is likely a diver will develop both. Bubbles that are just below the skin (subcutaneous) are not from DCS, but are another type of diving injury. All of these these together are know as Decompression Illness - which takes into account all diving pressure related injuries (also known as barotrauma). But DCS is very specific to excessive gas in the body bubbling and exceeding the bodies capacity to deal with the bubbles.

Answer 2

"Decompression sickness", or DCS, is usually used a specific term for the effects of dissolved gas coming out of solution in the diver's bloodstream causing injury or death.

"Decompression illness" is usually a broder term that includes both DCS and arterial gas embolisms (or AGE). AGE is caused by expansion of trapped gas, usually because the diver does not exhale whilst ascending.

In practical terms, the symptoms and treatment for DCS and AGE are the same, but they are distinct types of injury.