Dubai: Jumping out of a plane is no walk in the park.

Total body fitness is mandatory in an extreme sport like skydiving, health experts advise.

When you are in a free fall from an altitude of 30,000 feet or more, this has its physiological and psychological impact as it goes against the survival instinct.

Dr Atul Aundhekar, Chief Medical Director of iCare Clinics, from the Landmark Group, explained: “In an extreme sport like this which involves sudden change in altitude and air pressure, there is a definite somatic and psychosomatic impact on the body. In the somatic impact there are certain neurohormonal changes in the body as epinephrine and adrenalin are released and the body goes into a flight or fight mode. On the psychosomatic level the sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive — there is dryness of mouth, accelerated pulse rate, pupils dilate and there is focus concentration. This means that the individual is focused on one job — jumping.”

For instance, if a person has a BMI (Basal Metabolic Index) above 32, he is obese, which means the main joints in his body such as his knees and hips are already under strain. “Under free fall, the weight gets multiplied by gravity, putting the already stressed joints under more strain and can cause permanent damage to the joints,” he said.

Dr Aundhekar also explained that people diagnosed as obese must refrain from such extreme sports as it can cause a dislocation of the hernial ring in all the internal orifices. There are many internal orifices where one organ ends and another begins such as the trachea, oesophagus and pubic region. When a person is obese, the hernial rings located at such orifices are already under strain.

“When an obese person goes into free fall with the higher weight, his momentum of fall is higher and the impact is higher too. So, there is every chance the additional pressure on these internal orifices can result in dislocation or complete breakdown of the hernial ring.”

It is imperative for a person undertaking such an extreme sport to do his/her homework in terms of physical fitness so that the body is able to cope with the stress of the action. For some people with certain conditions skydiving is an absolute no or there is an absolute contraindication. This includes people with epilepsy, migraines, Meniere’s disease (ear ringing), cervical spondylosis and spine-related disorders, uncontrolled hypertension, people with weak joints and weak abdominal muscles. “In all these cases, these conditions can get aggravated by the impact of the free fall,” he said

There are also relative contraindications for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, essential hypertension, hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). In all these cases there is a danger of controlled release of hormones in the flight or fight mode leading to a shooting up of blood pressure, a fall in the blood sugar or spike in trigylerides and so on.