Health for Diving: A Primer on Diabetes
We all know there are medical factors that can prevent people from diving. Epilepsy, various heart conditions, loss of consciousness, pneumothorax, some chronic diseases…
Dive Medicine
The Doctor Will See You Now: Diving Fitness and Medical Examinations
I’m sure that there are places where I’m more ill at ease than in a doctor’s office, but I can’t really think of one….
Alcohol, Nicotine & Divers – What You Should Know
The last thing you probably want to read is another tirade on the dangers of drinking and smoking. Besides, what can I say that’s…
Managing Motion Sickness: New Alternatives for Divers
Motion sickness (seasickness, or mal de mer) is a common annoying, and sometimes disabling, problem for boaters and divers. Those who have suffered the…
Back Basics: Exercises to Keep Your Back Scuba-Ready
Low back pain is a very common medical problem, estimated to occur in about two-thirds of adults. Because divers must move around a great…
How to Control Seasickness
There are many ways to describe it: tossing your cookies, hugging the porcelain, calling for Ralph or letting out a technicolor yawn. but no…
Heat Exhaustion and Heatstroke
I remember vividly a dive trip to the Philippines, where we often had to shuttle from our large transoceanic vessel in small outboard wave…
Protection from the Sun
It’s very tempting to lie out in the sun, to soak up the warmth, to work on a tan. I know my first instinct…
When a Diver Has a Fever
The last thing anyone wants to happen on a dive trip is that he or she becomes ill, but sooner or later it happens…
Waiting to Exhale: Diving’s Golden Rule Explained
As a child of the ’50s, I was a big fan of the hallmark TV series Sea Hunt and its indomitable hero, Mike Nelson,…