Congested nose !

[Selenium]

Hello everyone,

I have a little issue that is bothering me during my dives and I was hoping someone might know how to tackle it.
After 1-1.5h of diving my nose gets so congested that it starts backing into my throat, giving me a strong gag reflex. I try not to panic and take my mask off so I can start clearing my nose but it's highly unpleasant and due to the discomfort my dives are coming to an end shortly after.. I can't relax properly any longer..
I believe it has something to do with my sinuses... anyone knows any remedy ?

All info highly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Alex

 

[landshark sa]

Quite a bit has been written about mucus, sinuses and eustachian tubes on DB - a search will uncover a wealth of information.

Unless sick, I normally don't have much problems with mucus build-up so most natural decongestants such as papaya tables, ginger don't help much as they are just too mild. If you find that you are suffer chronically these may be worth looking into.

If I'm sick and absolutely have to dive I use decongestants such as Iliadin or Sinutab and have found they work immediately. They are pretty potent and I have found if it's just a light cold that paediatric Iliadin packs enough of a punch to clear things up.

If you find that you it happens every time you should also consider looking into the root cause of the mucus build-up. An persistent allergy may be dealt with outside of the water and another thing that helps is keeping well hydrated. During a long dive, although may not notice it, you get dehydrated and this causes the mucus in your sinuses and eustachian tubes to thicken up and become sticky, hence difficult to move ending up in a scenario where you can't cough or blow it out which then ultimately ends the dive.

 

[Selenium]

Thank you very much for the reply landshark, I believe I've expressed myself wrongly...

I normally have very little problems with my nose although I believe I suffer from some sort of chronic sinusitis of some sort... or a hyper sensitivity of the sinuses...

At the start of a normal dive my nose could be clear but during the dive there is a lot of mucus build up inside my nose.. so much it backs up in my throat.

From what I gather on Facebook from different people it might be that there is a tiny quantity of salty water entering the mask and then as I dive/ equalise the mask acts like a plunger flushing the salty water trough my nose cavity making the body produce more mucus that ends up in my throat...

I understand that there are other people with this issue and most of them just remove their mask and blow it off regularly... I wouldn't like to have to mess about with my mask too much but I guess it's a small price to pay

 

[doyenofcastle]

For my chronic sinus keep using it before dive

Sent from my SM-A320F using Tapatalk

 

[Selenium]

Why thank you very much kind sir/madam

 

[Kimberly1]

This issue is common.

 

[Alina]

Eugeny Boutov is the doc of most Russian Freedivers. He developed a special formula of oil and medicinal herbs that you put in the nose, inhale through the nose and let it trickle down and "coat" the mucous membrane. It prevents the irritation from the salt water.
Also, it helps me to breath through my nose between dives, if the situation permits. Though it's driving my partner crazy