Health & Fitness in Scuba Diving
Posted By Divers Alert Network on 3 February 2002
By Joel Dovenbarger, DAN Director of Medical Services
(First appeared September/October 1999 - DAN Alert Diver magazine)
Your Personal Fitness Level
Scuba diving offers opportunities for travel, family fun and friendly interaction with the environment. So, why the concern for diving physical evaluations?
The answers can vary with the numbers of individual divers. In short, however, it's because we need a certain level of fitness to ensure our best performance and enjoyment of diving.
As divers of all ages and athletic abilities pursue recreational diving, they need to take the time to consider the fitness level required for scuba. Although the relatively weightless underwater environment makes diving appear almost effortless, scuba diving does require a measure of strength and stamina.
With this introductory story, DAN explains why overall fitness is important to a diver, when you may need to postpone diving based on medical conditions, why there's a need for a pre-certification physical examination, and the impact of medications on diving. In addition, DAN addresses scuba diving safety for individuals with underlying health conditions such as asthma and diabetes (See the related story "Diving & The Body Systems: Diving with conditions of the endocrine, pulmonary and cardiac systems," by Guy de Lisle Dear, M.B., FRCA, DAN Assistant Medical Director).
Learning to Scuba Dive
If you're considering learning to dive, keep in mind that not all your diving will be the same - water and weather conditions vary from dive to dive and even from the beginning to the end of some dives.
You may be required to maneuver through strong currents to reach your dive site or perform a long surface swim at the end of a dive. Divers need to be able to perform unexpected strenuous physical tasks. Also, they should not have any health conditions or be taking any medications that may cause problems while diving.
Students learning to dive complete a medical history form before getting into the water, but a physician's examination may not be required. In some cases, students report medical problems that may prevent them from diving or temporarily restrict their involvement in scuba. These students may be allowed to dive once they have been evaluated and receive a physician's consent.
Restrictions on Diving
Some medical conditions - such as colds, flu, injury or pregnancy - will temporarily restrict diving. Why? With colds or flu, swelling or blockage in the Eustachian tubes or sinuses may prevent adequate equalization of these air spaces with the water pressure. Injuries to joints and muscles may not only reduce diving ability, but they also increase susceptibility to decompression illness. Therefore, it is best to postpone diving until injuries are fully healed. Because little is known about the effects of scuba diving on an unborn child, it is recommended that pregnant women wait to dive until after a pregnancy.
Other medical conditions that restrict the movement of a diver's arms and legs may in turn limit in-water mobility. Some people may simply be out of shape and experience pain or discomfort with the physical exertion of scuba diving. Such health issues require individual evaluation by a physician prior to learning to dive.
- Bookmark with :
- what are these?
