Mask removal phobia

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dbulmer

Contributor
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Location
UK,Windsor
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Hello, my first post on this board.
I have spent the last couple of days reading about mask removal via the search button. Now mask removal is a big fear for me so I plan on taking more pool sessions to conquer the phobia but I do have one nag in my head.

If i get water up my nose (from bubbles) , is there anything I can do to keep myself calm? I know of the stop, breathe, think, act but I am worried about the breathe state in this. What can I medically do to correct it?

Recently on a dive, I didn't purge my regulator properly and found water entering my throat - I felt as if I was choking -what did I do? Well, I inhaled/exhaled sharply and coughed and that seemed to do the trick and I calmed down but is there anything I can do if water enters my nose?
 
Welcome to the board dbulmer. Hope you enjoy your adventures in knowledge here. There are a lot of good people here with experience that can help you.

With regard to your mask removal question. Many people have this problem and you are correct in getting additional sessions to work through your problem.

One little trick that I use when removing my mask is to breathe out of my nose as I remove the mask. This stops any water from entering my nose initially and leaves an air bubble in the nostrils to keep water out (as long as you are verticle in the water). Once done, I go back to breathing from my mouth. If I feel any water entering my nose, I exhale through my nose again.

Try practicing that in a pool session and see if it helps. Most of all try to remain calm and think your way through the problem. Good luck in your training.

Dive Smart;Dive Safe
Enjoy the ride
:mean:
 
dbulmer once bubbled...
Hello, my first post on this board.
I have spent the last couple of days reading about mask removal via the search button. Now mask removal is a big fear for me so I plan on taking more pool sessions to conquer the phobia but I do have one nag in my head.

If i get water up my nose (from bubbles) , is there anything I can do to keep myself calm? I know of the stop, breathe, think, act but I am worried about the breathe state in this. What can I medically do to correct it?

Recently on a dive, I didn't purge my regulator properly and found water entering my throat - I felt as if I was choking -what did I do? Well, I inhaled/exhaled sharply and coughed and that seemed to do the trick and I calmed down but is there anything I can do if water enters my nose?

Breathe out thru the nose. We spoke about this before, but anyway. If you have a bath tube, it's not a bad idea to start there. Put your face in the water. If you have air in your nose, the water won't come in.

Next, head to the pool with a snorkel and no mask. Get used to swimming with the snorkel, breathe in though your mouth and breathe out through your nose. You'll see that no water gets in. This is a required skill with some agencies, but not all of them, unfortunately.

If you master the skill, your comfort level will rise and you shouldn't have the problem anymore.

BTW, this is not a deco issue...
 
Apologies for posting to the wrong forum. In my haste I didn't actually see the correct forum but I didn't want to crosspost.

Arnaud, Maresman
I understand the tips to practice in a bathroom however when I tried yesterday my mask broke ! :) I am certified and was able to do this as part of the certification but I want to have zero fear and complete confidence as I am unsure how I might react. I can clear my mask partial or full without any problem it's just the mask removal thing and those blasted bubbles!!!!! :)
 
Practice without a mask. Just the snorkel. Get used to having your face in the water.
 
If you really want zero fear and complete confidence you might want to just hop in a swimming pool and play around a bit.

Get lots of time with your face underwater.

Then work up to being about to go upside down, and to be able to do somersaults.

Hopefully you can get to the point where water up your nose is just a minor irritant instead of something that might trigger your flight instinct.
 
dbulmer,

I had the same issue you do. I spent a great deal of time in the pool, starting in the shallow section with partial and full mask clearing. Then, once I felt more confident I went to mask removal. Lots of reps for each step. That's the only way to get past it. Unfortunately, there's no magic cure. Just keep plugging.

David
 
My g/f is going through the class right now, and this is the one skill she's having trouble with.

I've explained to her that while this isn't something that she's LIKELY to need at any given point in time, being able to breathe without a mask on, or a completely flooded mask, is an absolutely essential skill.

You don't have to like it, but you do have to be able to do it. If you shoot to the surface when/if you need it, the results are likely to be very bad. IMHO this is one of those things that is potentially even more serious than "regulator recovery", in that in the former case you can grab for your octo if you can't find your primary.

I have had my mask kicked off by another diver while doing a safety stop on a cattle boat. Never saw it coming - he was above me, lost control of his buoyancy, drifted down and nailed my mask with his fin.

We're working on it (my g/f and I) in my pool, and she'll get it - it just takes time, practice and patience - something that is often sorely missing in the "cattle car" class format of the current day.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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