dry throat and coughing

[foose]

Hi everybody,

I am looking for some advice for a friend. He received his open water cert approx 6 months ago and has been an active diver since then. The problem that he is having is that after he dives, he has problems with a very dry throat and then coughs all night after the dive.
Anybody experience this and have any advice?


Thanks!!
Foose

 

[NC Wreck Diver]

The compressed air is super dry. The only thing I can say is hydrate with water before and after each dive. Water, and plenty of it is the key. I drink soda a lot, and I know it's wrong (but I love it). See if he can skip all the coffee, tea (anything with caffeine), and run with the water. Even hydrate the night before dive days. Save the beer for another time if that's a pleasure he enjoys.

Good luck. Safe diving to him.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Assuming that your friend is well-hydrated and hasn't been sick when experiencing these coughing fits...

Your friend might have exercise-induced asthma. Cold, dry tank air can exacerbate this.

One manifestation of asthma that many people don't know about is called cough variant asthma (CVA). It's often associated with allergies (not the case with your friend) and can cause troubling nighttime cough. Often CVA patients have normal spirometry and lung exams. A methacholine challenge might be necessary.

I mention all of this not to attempt to diagnose your friend over the Internet, but to encourage him to see a physician who specializes in allergies and asthma.

Keep us posted on your friend's progress...

 

[Garrobo]

Try gargling Oasis mouthwash before and after dives. Wally's.

 

[SeaHorse81]

Moving your tongue around in your mouth during a dive will stimulate the salivary glands and solve the dry-mouth/throat problem within a minute or so. It's uncomfortable to do to start (especially if you wait until you have severe cotton-mouth happening), but it really works. This will work best if, as others have said, one is properly hydrated to begin with.

I can't address the cough part of the problem, but hope this helps a little with the rest.

 

[cloudflint]

You can also let a little water past your lips into your reg and breathe past it a few times. Ive found that gets my mouth nice and damp again. Also drinking plenty of water before and after the dive helps alot too.

 

[sjmueller61990]

Try the sherwood oasis regulator, its suppose to reduce dry mouth, same with the maximus by sherwood. As far as I know these are the only regulators that do this. Ive never tried it but reading the reviews and everything they seem to work pretty good.

 

[natew]

You can also let a little water past your lips into your reg and breathe past it a few times. Ive found that gets my mouth nice and damp again. Also drinking plenty of water before and after the dive helps alot too.

This works best for me. Also, if you're up for it (makes for good practice too), Pull your reg out, let a small amount of water in your mouth swish it around a little and spit/blow it back out through your reg. I seem to do one or the other once a dive.

 

[a22shady]

If he has an adjustable breathing reg tell him to turn the adjustment back. So that it flows less air. The reg maybe flowing the air to fast causing his throat/mouth to dry out

 

[fjpatrum]

I've found I have to swallow a lot to clear my ears so in my few dives I've just let a little water in my mouth and "gargle" it around a little bit to keep my salivary glands moist. A little salt water won't make you too sick and fresh water, while potentially unclean, isn't too bad either if you don't drink much of it. You can always bypass swallowing it though and spit it back out through your reg.