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 also recommend additional tests, such as x-rays, to further assess your diving abilities. If you have had any ear infections in the past it is important that your dive doctor be consulted. You don't need to have a history of ear problems, but a dive physical will help you get the right information.
Cardiovascular fitness:
Before diving as a hobby/career, it is important to assess your cardiovascular endurance. This may sound like a simple task, but it is not. If you're unable to walk a single block, then you shouldn't register for a diving program. Instead, exercise for 20 to 30 minutes five times a week. You might need to walk for as little as a quarter of a mile.
Examining gastrointestinal function
The importance of examining the gastrointestinal function is paramount during a scuba diver physical. This is because ischemic bowel disease can develop during a diving expedition. Belching and abdominal discomfort may be experienced by divers, but little is known about serious gastrointestinal complications. Gastric rupture may occur due to intragastric air expansion, massive pneumoperitoneum, or 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 are done to make sure divers can perform the necessary skills and to assess a diver’s vision. To assess if a diver's vision is good, a diving professional will ask the diver to fill out a visual acuity questionnaire. Although the goal of the test is to evaluate a diver's near and distant vision, it also measures the person's visual acuity.
Barotrauma screening
Scuba diving requires you to be extra cautious in order to prevent barotrauma. The word barotrauma is derived from the Greek words baros, meaning pressure, and trauma, which means injury. In a dive, the pressure changes can damage or rupture key parts of the ear. It can also be caused by diving with a cold. This condition can also cause nausea and vomiting.
Checking for Asthma
If you suspect you have asthma, you should consult your physician before going on a diving vacation. Dive vacations can trigger asthma symptoms, which can make it worse or worsen. Your doctor can prescribe oral steroids to treat your asthma. Keep an extra supply of inhalers with you on board your dive boat. Your physician can also run an exercise test to evaluate your asthma, and perform a lung function test to determine the severity of your condition.