--- title: "Diving with a Pacemaker? | Sutter Health" description: "I'm a scuba diver who just had a pacemaker implanted. Is it safe to continue to dive? I have normal heart muscle function." url: "/ask-an-expert/answers/diving-with-a-pacemaker-1051061276" --- 1. Home / 2. Diving with a Pacemaker? # Diving with a Pacemaker? * * * Medically reviewed by - Junaid H. Khan, M.D., FACC, FACS ## Question I'm a scuba diver who just had a pacemaker implanted. Is it safe to continue to dive? I have normal heart muscle function. ## Answer Pacemakers are considered a contraindication for commercial and military diving. Recreational diving has limited medical literature. Each diver should have a detailed conversation with their personal physician to get the appropriate answer. In brief, there are five key questions to discuss with your physician: 1\. Is there any additional structural heart disease or any "holes" in the heart? And make sure you have a pacemaker not a BIV (biventricular pacer) or AICD (automated internal cardioversion defibrillator). 2\. Is your specific pacemaker rated to function at 130 feet? 3\. Is your cardiovascular fitness adequate (13 mets or greater) for the stress of not only diving but handling any emergency situations? 4\. Are you on a blood thinner? 5\. What is your underlying heart function, and is there any significant muscle damage to your heart? Keep in mind a significant number of fatalities in recreational diving are attributable to heart conditions. However, properly screened patients with pacemakers can successfully enjoy diving after being cleared by their personal physician. ## Explore related topics Heart healthHeart Rhythm Disorders ## Meet our care team Junaid H. Khan, M.D., FACC, FACS Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery Cardiothoracic Surgery ## Related questions View all questions - Health Q&A ### Pacemaker and Exercise I had a pacemaker inserted a year ago. It keeps dropping down and looks like the wires are about to pop out. I've asked my cardiologist about it several times and he said it's fine and should not drop anymore. I exercise 5x/week. Is that too much? - Health Q&A ### Abnormal Heart Rhythm Tests My primary care doctor detected an abnormal heart rhythm and wants me to see a cardiologist for an EP study. What is an EP study and what is the cardiologist looking for? - Health Q&A ### Control of Ventricular Tachycardia I was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia a few years ago. I can usually keep it under control, except when I over exercise or if I've been stressed. Then my heart rate goes really up. Is there anything I can do to keep this from happening? - Health Q&A ### Controlling PSVT Symptoms I have occasional rapid heartbeats, which my doctor recently diagnosed as PSVD. But I have no other heart conditions. So he did not suggest any type of treatment except to avoid certain things like alcohol. Is there anything else I should be doing? - Health Q&A ### Heart "Flipping Around" I just e-mailed my doctor about the feeling that my heart is flipping around in my chest. I feel like I have a heart problem. I had a 24-hour Holter monitor and they said it looks fine. But I think something is wrong. Should I see a cardiologist? View all questions ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalOrganization","name":"Sutter Health","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/#medicalorganization","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org","logo":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/static/images/sutter-health-logo.svg","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"2200 River Plaza Drive","addressLocality":"Sacramento","addressRegion":"CA","postalCode":"95833","addressCountry":"US"},"areaServed":{"@type":"AdministrativeArea","name":"California"},"sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/SutterHealth","https://www.instagram.com/sutterhealth/","https://x.com/SutterHealth","https://www.youtube.com/sutterhealth","https://www.linkedin.com/company/sutter-health","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Health"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/diving-with-a-pacemaker-1051061276#breadcrumblist","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Diving with a Pacemaker?"}]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"MedicalWebPage","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/diving-with-a-pacemaker-1051061276#medicalwebpage","url":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/diving-with-a-pacemaker-1051061276","name":"Diving with a Pacemaker?","description":"Pacemakers are considered a contraindication for commercial and military diving.","inLanguage":"en-US","medicalAudience":{"@type":"MedicalAudience","audienceType":"Patient"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/diving-with-a-pacemaker-1051061276#breadcrumblist"},"mainEntity":{"@type":"Question","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/diving-with-a-pacemaker-1051061276#question","name":"Diving with a Pacemaker?","text":"I'm a scuba diver who just had a pacemaker implanted. Is it safe to continue to dive? I have normal heart muscle function.","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","@id":"https://www.sutterhealth.org/ask-an-expert/answers/diving-with-a-pacemaker-1051061276#answer","text":"Pacemakers are considered a contraindication for commercial and military diving. Recreational diving has limited medical literature. Each diver should have a detailed conversation with their personal physician to get the appropriate answer. In brief, there are five key questions to discuss with your physician: 1. Is there any additional structural heart disease or any \"holes\" in the heart? And make sure you have a pacemaker not a BIV (biventricular pacer) or AICD (automated internal cardioversion defibrillator). 2. Is your specific pacemaker rated to function at 130 feet? 3. Is your cardiovascular fitness adequate (13 mets or greater) for the stress of not only diving but handling any emergency situations? 4. Are you on a blood thinner? 5. 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