A good dive medical includes several components that a medical professional should inspect. General examinations include visual acuity, cardiovascular fitness, visual acuity, barotrauma, and gastrointestinal function. Doctors may recommend additional tests to evaluate your diving abilities. If you have ever had ear infections, it's important that you speak with your dive doctor. A dive physical can provide you with the necessary information, even if your ear infection history is not present.
The importance of cardiovascular fitness
It is crucial to assess your cardiovascular condition before you consider diving as a hobby or career. Although this might seem easy, it's not. For example, you shouldn't sign up for a diving course if you can't even walk a block! Instead, you should exercise for 20 minutes four to five times a week. Walking a mile might not be enough.
Examining the gastrointestinal function
Because ischemic colitis is possible during a diving expedition, it is crucial to check the digestive function of divers. Although divers may experience belching or abdominal discomfort, there is not much information about severe gastrointestinal complications. Some rare gastrointestinal conditions have been reported, including gastric rupture due to intra-gastric air expansion and massive pneumoperitoneum, which results from lung barotrauma. But, hemorhagic, acute ischemic, and mesenteric thrombosis were never linked to scubadiving.
Examining visual acuity
Dive physicals are done to make sure divers can perform the necessary skills and to assess a diver’s vision. A questionnaire about visual acuity will be administered by a professional diving instructor to help determine whether a diver can see well. Although the test's objective is to assess the distance and near vision of a diver, it also measures their visual acuity.
You should check for barotrauma
Barotrauma should be checked if you are going scuba diving. Barotrauma comes from the Greek words trauma (meaning injury) and baros (meaning pressure). When the pressure changes during diving, it can cause damage or even complete rupture to certain parts of the ear. This condition can be caused by diving while having a cold or congestion. It can also lead to symptoms like vomiting or pain.
Asthma testing
Before diving, it is a good idea to consult your physician if you suspect you may have asthma. Your asthma symptoms can become more severe or less severe over time. They can also be triggered by diving. Asthma treatment can be provided by your doctor with oral steroids. To protect yourself, keep some inhalers aboard your dive boat. Your doctor can also conduct an exercise test to assess asthma symptoms and do a lung function check to determine severity.