When does a cold stop you from diving

[Dr Wu]

WOW - I am totally blown away by some of these responses!! Yes, everyone is built differently. I think and/or hope that everyone wants to dive safely and be injury FREE. Yes, we all dive for one reason and that is that WE LOVE TO DIVE!! Any health risks involving questionable conditions should be seriously weighed and not push any dive when you don't feel well. You body is TRYING TO SPEAK to YOU and you NEED to listen. I suffered nerve damage to one ear and have permanant hearing lose because of a reverse blockage. I was slightly conjested and equalized with an result of nerve damage. DRUGS are DRUGS and one shouldn't rely on DRUGS fixing a health issue when you are diving. There are other things your body needs to deal with other than DRUGS. Call a dive and you will be diving for many more years. Also, ALWAYS take out travel insurance for trips.

1. Many people do not like to dive but must in order to pay the bills.

2. If you feel you need to frequently resort to ALL CAPS in a post to make your point perhaps consider the idea that your point was not all that interesting to begin with.

Certainly this one was not.

 

[TSandM]

The choice to use medications to dive is up to the individual diver. Some people can't dive at ALL without the use of some type of decongestant. The risks involved in having something wear off at depth are real, although with the longer-acting preparations it is smaller. The actual risk is related to the severity of the symptoms you are trying to control -- if there is minimal congestion to begin with, then having a med wear off underwater isn't as critical. You can do permanent damage to your hearing, your sense of balance, or serious and long-lasting damage to sinuses, including significant infection, so good sense should keep most people from attempting to dive when severely congested, even if medications briefly work.

 

[sierra23]

Yes, I used Afrin for MANY years. All that stuff works but what a pain to ALWAYS have to fiddle with more JUNK!! Seems like you have some knowledge about the subject - have you checked you blood pressure after using all that STUFF? Dive Safe and Happy Fishes.

 

[sierra23]

sorry to offend you. my only interest is for one to be safe and stay healthy while diving. i am understanding of the fact that many rely on drugs to make a situation tolerable. in time it might not be so pleasant.

 

[sierra23]

yes, i agree with you. i really opened a can of worms here. sorry to have offended fellow divers. i might be diving with them some day and somewhere. we all are in this together and we all should be respectful and caring of each others choices. i had knowledge on this subject for many years and had a misfortune of loosing my hearing from something I did 1000 times before. i guess i was a bit too much in your face about meds. to each his own. amen

 

[SkimFisher]

I usually take sudafed the night before a dive as I usually have a little congestion on the morning. I'm one of those people that needs it in order to dive comfortably. Not saying I can't do it without it...I'd just rather use my gas on the bottom vs. clearing my ears on the way down.

 

[Meredith78]

I have a cold and am leaving soon for my vacation. I am supposed to go diving a week from today. I thought 7 days was a pretty good amount of time for my cold to blow over. But after reading this thread I am terrified (I take a long time to equalize on a normal day) and I now I will be playing it VERY safe!!

 

[OBXDIVEGUY]

I have a cold and am leaving soon for my vacation. I am supposed to go diving a week from today. I thought 7 days was a pretty good amount of time for my cold to blow over. But after reading this thread I am terrified (I take a long time to equalize on a normal day) and I now I will be playing it VERY safe!!

Don't be afraid to dive. The key thing is you should never be afraid to abort a dive. I 7 days, you may feel you've cleared up and you head out on a dive. But then, on the descent you may feel it wasn't quite cleared up enough. Do not be pressured to continue with the dive, just because there are others there. It's your dive.

Hopefully you will be cleared up just fine, and have a great time!