A good dive physical includes a few different parts that a medical professional should look for. General examinations include visual acuity, cardiovascular fitness, visual acuity, barotrauma, and gastrointestinal function. Doctors may recommend additional tests to evaluate your diving abilities. It's important to talk with your dive doctor if you have a history of ear infections. Even if you do not have any ear infections in the past, a dive medical will give you all the information that you need.
The importance of cardiovascular fitness
Before diving as a hobby/career, it is important to assess your cardiovascular endurance. It may seem simple, but it isn't. You shouldn't sign-up for a diving course if your ability to walk is not sufficient. It is better to exercise 20 minutes four to five time per week. Even walking a mile may not be sufficient.
Examining the gastrointestinal function
Examining gastrointestinal function during a scuba dive physical is extremely important because ischemic colitis can occur during a diving expedition. 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. Hemorrhagic and acute ischemic colitis, mesenteric vein bleeding, and acute thrombosis have not been reported to be related to scuba diving.
Examining visual acuity
Dive physicals assess the abilities of divers and evaluate their 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 goal of the test is to evaluate a diver's near and distant vision, it also measures the person's visual acuity.
You should check for barotrauma
You should take extra precautions when scuba diving to avoid barotrauma. Barotrauma comes from the Greek words trauma (meaning injury) and baros (meaning pressure). Pressure changes in a dive can cause damage to or even rupture of key parts and organs of the ear. This can happen if the diver is suffering from congestion or a cold. This can cause symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
Asthma: Check for it
Before going on a dive vacation, your physician should be consulted if you believe you might have asthma. You can experience asthma symptoms that can get worse or worse, and even trigger by diving. Your doctor will likely prescribe you oral steroids to help with your asthma. You should always keep an inhaler onboard your dive boat as a precaution. Your doctor can also conduct an exercise test to assess asthma symptoms and do a lung function check to determine severity.