scuba diving with the lap band

I Have a question that my doctor said that he would have to research. i am a scuba diver. will i be able to scuba dive with the lap band. is there anyone that has already had the surgery that does scuba dive? will i be able to continue scuba diving after the sergury?

According to the manufacturer, yes. Allergan were asked this some years ago by a member of this forum.  The answer was that altitude, as when flying, and pressure, as when diving, have no effect on the liquid. It may be that there are tiny airbubbles  in the saline. These would expand at altitude and contract at depth. However this would be so slight as to have no noticeable effect.

Some people do report proboems when flying but this is probably more due to being in a stressful situation. I personally find I feel a bit tighter at high altitudes in mountains but am never sure whether it is my imagination!

but at depth  according to Allergan, any very slight effect shouid be to make the band looser as any air contracts. 

There should be no problem with diving after WLS.  Check out Divers Alert Network out of Duke University.  I'm pretty sure they have articles on the subject.  They also have a dial in help line that hyperbaric medical professionals man the lines. Just make sure enought time has passed after surgery for healing to be complete.

The following is out of the DAN website under WLS and diving:

After surgery, some patients experience chronic acid reflux. Reflux and regurgitation of fluid and gastric liquid can present problems for a diver in the "head down" position, such as during descent. Divers can manage problems of regurgitation or vomiting through proper dietary considerations and possibly medications. Gastrointestinal barotrauma presents more dive-specific issues. During ascent, gas pockets within the gastrointestinal tract expand. If the gas is trapped due to obstructed bowel, rupture could occur. Dive physicians say divers who have had uncomplicated bariatric surgery should not be at any increased risk for gastrointestinal barotrauma. So, how soon after having bariatric surgery can you dive? Physicians recommend a four to six-week wait after major surgery before you resume strenuous activity. After bariatric surgery, it is probably best to wait longer, until you've made some appropriate eating adjustments, dealt with problems such as reflux and vomiting, and you've achieved your maximum weight loss. Usually this happens more than a year after surgery. Divers should not resume diving until they can exercise safely. During any period of convalescence and inactivity, you can lose a significant amount of muscle mass and strength. You should base your A safe return to diving on requires recovery from any therapy and a tolerance for all physical activity that exceeds the reasonable demands of diving - including the exceptional effort that may be required when things do not go quite as planned. and a resumption of exercise that builds the appropriate response to the cardiac and pulmonary exertion you need to dive. Because obesity is commonly associated with atherosclerosis, diabetes and hypertension, prospective divers who are obese or who have had bariatric surgery should be tested for these conditions and undergo specific exercise testing.

The band is famous for causing reflux and stomach acid. Many people have serious problems with vomiting and sliming (mucous that uncontrollably comes up in the mouth by the body trying to rid itself of the offending food) this can be hours after the food has been eaten. Allergan has blatently lied about sooo many things that I wouldn't trust anything they said about this subject. We were also told the band would last a lifetime, that it was reversible and that it would curb hunger but those weren't true either. Personally I wouldn't trust the band and diving simply because the band doesn't adjust with the swelling of body tissue when the body is inflammed for any reason or when the body is retaining fluid so I don't see why it would be safe when diving at different depths. I would definately want to be VERY sure that you aren't going to suffer any consequences.

So much if the information regarding bariatric surgery is from RNY surgery and not the lap band. The band is a whole different type of situation. With other surgeries things are permanently cut and stitched back together, once healed they aren't going to change. With the band it reacts to bodily changes like fluid retention and inflamation so it is completely different. If you are an avid diver I would definately go with sleeve, RNY or DS they are permanent and would more likely react the way the stats are describing.