A good dive physical should include a few parts that a professional should examine. Checking cardiovascular fitness, gastrointestinal function and visual acuity are all part of a general examination. 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 you do not have any ear infections in the past, a dive medical will give you all the information that you need.
Assessing your cardiovascular fitness
Before pursuing diving as a hobby or a career, it is vital to evaluate your cardiovascular fitness. Although it may seem easy, this is not an easy task. 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. You might need to walk for as little as a quarter of a mile.
Examining the digestive function
It is important to examine the gastrointestinal function of divers during a scuba diving physical. Ischemic colitis can happen during a dive 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
Diver physicals are used to verify that divers can perform the skills required and to evaluate a diver's eyesight. A questionnaire about visual acuity will be administered by a professional diving instructor to help determine whether a diver can see well. The test is designed to measure a person's vision acuity and distance vision.
Barotrauma screening
If you plan to scuba dive, it is important that you take extra precautions in order to avoid barotrauma. Barotrauma is a combination of the Greek words baros and trauma. Trauma refers to 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.
Asthma: Check for it
Before you go on a diving vacation, consult your doctor if you think you might have asthma. You can experience asthma symptoms that can get worse or worse, and even trigger by diving. Your doctor can prescribe oral steroids to treat 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.