Decompression (diving) If the concentration gets too high, it may reach a stage where bubble formation can occur in the supersaturated tissues. When the pressure of gases in a bubble exceed the combined external pressures of ambient pressure and the surface tension of the bubble-liquid interface, the bubbles grow, and this growth can damage tissue. If the dissolved inert gases come out of solution within the tissues of the body and form bubbles, they may cause the condition known as decompression sickness, or DCS, also known as divers' disease, the bends or caisson disease. However, not all bubbles result in symptoms, and
Decompression sickness from decompression tables, decompression software, or from dive computers, and these are commonly based upon a mathematical model of the body's uptake and release of inert gas as pressure changes. These models, such as the Bühlmann decompression algorithm, are designed to fit empirical data and provide a decompression schedule for a given depth and dive duration. Since divers on the surface after a dive still have excess inert gas in their bodies, decompression from any subsequent dive before this excess is fully eliminated needs to modify the schedule to take account of the residual gas load from the previous dive.