Inhaling Water

[rora]

Hi all, I've been reading variations of mask clearance & mask leakage posts for the past 2 hours, so thought I'd jump in and ask my question, and hope somebody will take pity & answer it again, or point me to a post I haven't found!

I completed a PADI OW course in Australia 2 years ago & returned home with great plans of keeping it up. Of course, 2 years flew by & I had done nothing about it. However, this October I joined the local Sub-aqua club have started the training again from scratch (CMAS). Loving it, even though we're still in the pool, but I have 1 problem which is annoying me. We're heading to the lakes in 2 weeks & I'm hoping to get it sorted before then.

I'm always blocked up on a Wed morning, after a Tue class. Which of course doesn't bode well for repeated dives when I'm back in the sea. It seems like I end up with small amounts of water in the nose section of my mask & then when I tumble, refit gear on my back, or practice clearing my mask, etc. I inhale it. Which is fine on the night, but next morning I sound like I've a huge headcold. Which to my mind points to not clearing the mask properly. However, I never had the problem in Aus. Is it possible the mask fit could be the problem (had just the shop gear in Aus), or do I just keep practicing?

Thanks

 

[boat sju]

It might just be the chlorine. I have the same problem after swimming in a pool.

 

[mikeyjoe]

I sometimes have that waterlogged feeling in my sinuses or ears after a dive. I find a cold pill/decongestant after the dive does wonders to clear it up......

Michael

 

[rora]

It might just be the chlorine. I have the same problem after swimming in a pool.

I had never even considered that. You might be onto something there. I suppose I could find out pretty easily. Thanks

 

[TimAZ]

Yeah, another instructor here gets that way every time she uses our pool. Other pools are ok and no-one else appears to have issues w/ ours, but there you go. She swears by this stuff called Mucinex to clear her out.

 

[rora]

I sometimes have that waterlogged feeling in my sinuses or ears after a dive. I find a cold pill/decongestant after the dive does wonders to clear it up......

Michael

It's not really waterlogged, more completely congested. You're too blocked up to be able to blow your nose, if that makes sense. Thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[rora]

Yeah, another instructor here gets that way every time she uses our pool. Other pools are ok and no-one else appears to have issues w/ ours, but there you go. She swears by this stuff called Mucinex to clear her out.

Well if the pool is the problem, I'll definetly be looking up that stuff. Thanks.
It would be so much easier if it was the pool - no need to shell out for another mask, or continue trying to figure out where I was going wrong with mask clearing!

 

[muddiver]

It's the Northern hemisphere water. The water in Austrailia is of a different ploarity because they are up side down. Try doing all your pool work inverted.

 

[mikeyjoe]

It's not really waterlogged, more completely congested. You're too blocked up to be able to blow your nose, if that makes sense. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Oh no, it is definitely water entering my ears or nasal/frontal sinus specifically. On certain dives I can definitely sense the moment when the water enters - it usually is when I have cleared my ears or sinuses really hard and have almost created a negative pressure. It's like, oh crap, I'm gonna have water in there for a day or two......I go from completely un-congested to water logged in 45 minutes....

 

[diverdown247]

Easy fix Rora. Look into a mask with a nosecup purge valve. See if someone will let you use theirs to find out if it will do you any good. MMM...sharing snot....wonderful thought!

I no longer have my purge valve mask and have noticed that I get stuffed up a bit easier without it.