Invicta Divers SCUBA Diving School Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)


Q: I have Asthma, can I SCUBA dive ?

A: We ask everyone to complete a medical checklist before they come to SCUBA Dive. If you have any conditions listed on the checklist (Asthma is one) we ask you to check with your GP to confirm that there are no medical reasons why you should not dive.

In the past it used to be the case that just the mention of asthma, no matter how mild or well managed, and you would be categorised and excluded from SCUBA diving.
Happily, nowadays people are treated more as individuals.   If your condition is properly managed, and the causes of any exacerbation understood, you are very likely to be able to SCUBA Dive.   Your own management involves avoiding the trigger factors, using precautionary medications as prescribed, monitoring yourself, and recognising any symptoms early and taking the appropriate actions as you have been taught. 

If your Asthma is exacerbated by cold, or by strenuous exercise, then these are environmental factors that you must, and can, avoid.   You could possibly experience either of those while SCUBA diving.   Management is therefore to sensibly avoid cold dives and strenuous dives and to cease SCUBA Diving if you experience even mild symptoms, until you are and remain symptom-free.

As someone with Asthma, you'll have a better understanding of your respiratory sytem than someone who has never experienced laboured breathing.   You'll need to adhere to your preventative regime (e.g. brown puffer, steroids), and bring your preventative and intervention inhalers and medication with you to each dive.   Explain to the people around you how they could recognise that you need help, and where your medication is kept.

Broadly, if you are and remain symptom-free, and you've not needed to resort to a therapeutic bronchodilator (e.g. your blue puffer) for at least 48 hours, and you have none of the typical asthmatic symptoms of wheezing, tightness of chest, or restricted breathing, and you're managing to avoid your known trigger factors, you can enjoy your SCUBA Diving every bit as much as anyone else.

You can click here to view the UK Sport Diving Medical Committee guidance on SCUBA Diving with Asthma


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