A good dive exam should cover a number of different areas that a doctor should be looking for. The general examination includes checking for cardiovascular fitness and gastrointestinal function, visual ability, and barotrauma. Doctors may recommend additional tests to evaluate your diving abilities. If you have had ear infections in the past, it is important to discuss this with your doctor. You don't need to have a history of ear problems, but a dive physical will help you get the right information.
Assessing your cardiovascular fitness
It is important to assess your cardiovascular fitness before you decide to pursue diving as a hobby, or even as a career. While this may seem like an easy task, it is far from simple. 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 may need to walk a few miles.
Examining the digestive function
Examining gastrointestinal function during a scuba dive physical is extremely important because ischemic colitis can occur during a diving expedition. 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
Dive physicals can be used to determine if divers have the ability to perform the required skills and assess their vision. To determine if a diver has good vision, the diving professional will ask him or her to complete a visual acuity questionnaire. Although the test's objective is to assess the distance and near vision of a diver, it also measures their visual acuity.
Do you suspect that your barotrauma is present?
Barotrauma should be checked if you are going scuba diving. Barotrauma, which comes from the Greek word baros, which stands for pressure, and trauma, that stands for injury, is what you get. 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 can cause symptoms such as nausea and vomiting.
Asthma Testing
If you suspect you have asthma, you should consult your physician before going on a diving vacation. Your asthma symptoms can become more severe or less severe over time. They can also be triggered 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. A physician can perform an exercise test to assess your asthma and also do a test of your lung function to determine the severity.