A good dive exam should cover a number of different areas that a doctor should be looking for. General examination procedures include checking cardiovascular fitness, gastrointestinal function, visual acuity, and barotrauma. Your doctor may recommend additional tests like x-rays to help you assess your diving abilities. If you have ever had ear infections, it's important that you speak with your dive doctor. Even if there is no history of ear infections or you have never had them before, a diving physical will provide all necessary information.
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, if you cannot walk a block, you should not sign up to a diving course. You should be exercising for 20 minutes at least four to five days a week. You might need to walk for as little as a quarter of a mile.
Examining the function of the stomach
Because ischemic colitis is possible during a diving expedition, it is crucial to check the digestive function of divers. Divers may exhibit belching and abdominal discomfort, but there is little information on severe gastrointestinal complications associated with the activity. 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
Diver physicals are used to verify that divers can perform the skills required and to evaluate a diver's eyesight. The diving professional will request that a diver complete a visual ability questionnaire to assess his or her vision. Although the goal of the test is to evaluate a diver's near and distant vision, it also measures the person's visual acuity.
Examining for barotrauma
If you plan to scuba dive, it is important that you take extra precautions in order to avoid barotrauma. Barotrauma derives its name from the Greek words baros which is pressure and trauma which refers to injury. Dive pressure can cause damage or rupture to the eardrums. It can also be caused by diving with a cold. This condition can also cause nausea and vomiting.
Asthma: Check for it
Before you go on a diving vacation, consult your doctor if you think you might have asthma. Your asthma symptoms can become more severe or less severe over time. They can also be triggered 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. To assess your asthma severity, your physician may also perform an exercise test and a lung function test.