It’s the event you have planned towards for a very long time… You committed 100%. You went to the camps; took time off from work and family; traveled to new drop zones; sat through endless dirt-dives; sat out some bad weather; got outside your comfort zone; kept your focus; fine-tuned your skills; made the cut; got the invite; planned the trip; wrote the check… You’re now on your way to your big-way…

Kiss the wife and kids goodbye; promise you’ll be safe. Daughter’s got a cold; mom can handle it. Clear. Felt a little congested on the plane; must be allergies. Night before check in; a bit of a headache; must be stress, excited about what tomorrow will bring…

Day One:
Driving to the drop zone; a little sweaty; a bit congested. Worked hard to get here; must be getting a little nervous. Call home; daughter went to pediatrician. Strep throat. Mom has it handled with TLC, Motrin and some antibiotics.

Day Two:
Throbbing headache, earache, sore throat, burning up! Run to pharmacy; double antihistamine and a handful of Motrin and Tylenol. Feel like crap. A fellow jumper offers some left-over Keflex. Now I itch all over. Sure hope I’m not allergic to the stuff. Got to push through… Worked so hard to get here. Jump run: dizzy as hell. What’s the altitude? Out the door; vertigo; lose focus; head pounding; stadium what? Bump; reach; grip, hang on! So much for stopping in my slot. What was I thinking reaching like that? Floated my whole piece. Damn video! My reputation’s ruined. I’m better than this. Opening shock is like a brick hitting between my eyes. Feel like throwing up. There is some liquid coming out of my ear and I can’t hear so good. This is not going well. Lucky I didn’t hurt myself or anyone else. Time for damage control. Crawl over to my sector captain. Admit illness. Bench self. Google laptop for nearest ER. Sadly anticipate this will not go away overnight. Some trip of a lifetime!

Sure the organizers are sympathetic and understanding but it’s their job to get this dive done. So they must now rethink the slotting in your segment and start moving things around. You have just become your organizer’s worst nightmare. You let yourself down, as well as the rest of the team. Not what you envisioned?…

Guess what pal. Think back; it’s not about today. Today was the result of a cascade of largely preventable events. Take ownership; you started this disaster days ago when you failed to act in a proactive manner.

Science Behind the Problem

Upper respiratory infections, viral or otherwise, are part of the fabric of our lives and we all deal with it frequently. You go to work. You persevere. Eventually you get over it. In our sport it’s different. We are subject to a rapid compression and decompression each time we go to altitude and jump. It’s really all about your nose. Goofy as it seems, that funny looking thing in the middle of your face is often the key to your facial plumbing. If you have a lousy nasal airway from sinusitis or trauma, get it fixed; this will dramatically extend your skydiving career. If your airway is less than adequate, it follows that your flow of air to your Eustachian, tubes and sinuses, is inadequate, resulting in ear infections, vertigo, chronic sinusitis, ruptured ear drums, hearing loss, and the dreaded ‘squeeze’ of a sinus headache. Worse, it’s not compatible with your sport. The act of skydiving will actually make it worse. The higher the altitude we jump from, the bigger the affect.

Prevention

Avoid sick people. Some forms of viral influenza have an incubation period of up to three weeks. You may never remember the source of the bug that nailed you but most likely it was someone close to you. Start with the obvious stuff. Wash your hands; a lot, especially when traveling. Carry antiseptic wipes and use them. Claim your space and try your best to shield yourself from the slob next to you who sneezes with his mouth open. Build up your immune system early in your planning; Vitamin C works. Echinacea has been proven in double blind studies to be worthless but that won’t stop naturopathic pharmacies from selling boatloads of it to the Kool-Aid drinkers. Immune systems take a hit from stress and travel. If you intend to travel outside your country of residence, visit the World Health Organization website for vaccine information and review specific requirements for things like Malaria prophylaxis.

Beware of Flying

A commercial airliner is basically a metal petri dish designed to recirculate everyone’s microbes and incubate disease. In the late eighties there was much publicity about how filthy and contagious the air in a plane is, and there was much hoopla from the airlines about high tech micro filters to fix the problem. Like most scientific problems involving big money, the follow-up study done two years later got almost no publicity, as it showed minimal improvement of air quality. In my practice, I treat more flight attendants and pilots for chronic sinus disease than almost any other group. Personally, I would actually wear a surgical mask during flights, regardless of the stares from my fellow passengers, if I wasn’t afraid some over-zealous customs agent would single me out as being contagious.

Prepare in Advance

Know your body; your strengths and your weaknesses. If you have a weak stomach talk to your doctor. Think about things like Cipro, Lomatil, Prilosec, etc. Stock up and label your medications in their pharmacy bottles, especially pain medicines. What may be just ‘a left over Percocet from my dentist’, is an unlabeled narcotic to a customs agent. Tell your physician you are traveling and he will give you extra meds if necessary and copies of your prescription. Tell your pharmacy to split your meds into extra labeled bottles so you can pack some and take some in your carry on, in case things get lost or stolen.

If you're over 40 and still smoking, just shoot yourself now and save us the trouble of watching you pass out at altitude

If you have a couple of months or more to plan, consider gong to a physician who specializes in wellness or anti-aging medicine. Great strides have been made in this field; it’s more than testosterone and growth hormone shots. Results can be outstanding. Avoid the charlatans who advertise or are not certified. If you are over 40 and still smoking, just shoot yourself now and save us the trouble of watching you pass out at altitude. To you die-hard partiers; remember, what your body tolerated ten years ago, it may not tolerate now.

The Otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist) View

As you get older, you become increasingly allergic (beats the alternative). Most scuba divers will tell you, it gets harder to clear their ears with age. As skydivers we face a similar problem. Over the years I have seen many small earaches progress to full blown otitis media with some tympanic membrane (ear drum) perforations. This results in a grounded skydiver. High altitude jumps are a common precursor to these events due to the baro-traumas involved. If you re prone to this consider stating a nasal steroid (Nasonex or Flonase) about a month prior to your event. On the day of the event you can add a nasal antihistamine such as Patanase or Astropro. It’s a pretty harmless medication with rare side affects (occasional nose bleeds). If you begin to get symptomatic, bring OTC (Over The Counter, ie no prescription) 12-hour (not 24-hour) Claritin-D or Zyrtec-D, taking it after breakfast, not on an empty stomach. At night, steam is your best friend. If you experience sudden deafness or have liquid coming out of your ears, stop jumping, as you will likely become vertiginous and are a danger to yourself and others. Afrin only works on your last day as the rebound will make you worse 24 hour later.

Summary

As a big-way participant, you have committed to being part of something bigger than yourself. In talking to coaches and hearing the stories of grounded skydivers, I’ve concluded that often the conditions resulting in the ‘sit down’ are largely preventable. The story above is just one skydiver but imagine how many people on a 200-way can be affected by simple, preventable maladies. Think from the organizers’ viewpoint; how much more likely is a successful outcome if they didn’t have to deal with last-minute slot changes? You can’t control every aspect of your health but, if you start early and are proactive and smart, you can immensely improve your chances of completion and extend your longevity in our wonderful sport.