How does the pressure of scuba diving compare to that of flying in an airplane?
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: If this is a medical question, I suggest you get advice from a medical practitioner because AP isn’t one. I’ve heard that you should leave enough acclimation time between a Scuba dive and an airplane flight so you won’t experience too big a difference between the high pressure of a dive and the lower pressure (even in pressurized cabins) of a flight. The pressures in the atmosphere are about cut in half for every 18,000 feet in altitude. The pressure in the ocean increases by one atmosphere (that is, doubles) for about every 10 meters in depth. Lots of web sites go into the physics of this. I guess that’s why you can’t Scuba dive a mile deep but there are a whole lot of people living in Denver or Mexico City or La Paz.
Ive had a question for a while and i was unable to get an answer because not a lot of information is available about this, but i had an operation called a craniectomy about 6 years ago and now im wondering if i would be able to safely get on a plane or scuba dive without having any injuries to my head… im afraid that the pressure might affect my skull, but the last surgery i had about 6 years ago was when they removed a piece of skull and put it back when the swelling went down. can you please let me know if i would be safe on a plane or underwater?
This is surely a question for your doctor, especially since I’m sure each person’s case is different. Please ask him or her these questions (and maybe get multiple opinions) and don’t risk getting answers on the web.