Exhaling while Inhaling: How Do I Stop It?

[doctormike]

Yeah, I think that @tursiops may be on to something, some kind of reverse circular breathing. I say this as a former trombone player, not as an ENT doc. Sounds more habitual than anatomic, hard to say much more than that. Something like a pharyngeal tic developed from habitually and continually clearing your mask of water. Inhaled gas would normally just cause the lungs to expand, if you are breathing it in, but that raises another possibility, that @Bowers alluded to - if your reg is delivering gas at greater than what you inhale (sort of like a brief mini free-flow), that could raise your nasopharyngeal pressure above ambient and cause it to vent out of the mask...

I don't know for sure.

 

[mattia_v]

I subconsciously block my nose off when breathing through my mouth with a reg, so there is not airflow out my nose unless I want there to be. The swim goggle option in the pools sounds like it would be an easy way to train it.

other option, though it doesn’t seem plain the timing, is that your mask itself leaks somewhere?

 

[Matthijs]

I notice the same thing when I remove my mask. As soon as I inhale there's a big stream of bubbles exiting through my nose. I have the same regulator as you do and for me, it was 99% gone when I turned off the venturi. Might be worth a try for you as well.

 

[lowviz]

I subconsciously block my nose off when breathing through my mouth with a reg, so there is not airflow out my nose unless I want there to be.

@Ryan Neely, I'm pretty sure that this is the simplest explanation for your issue.

To the best of my ability, I would guess that somehow I'm still subconsciously routing my breath from my mouth and directly into my nasal cavity. I just don't understand it, though.

Thanks for the vid, most helpful.

I tend to do the same thing when I'm really relaxed. There will be a small but steady stream of bubbles coming out of my mask skirt BETWEEN the inhale and exhale. I don't see any possible way to have your nose and mouth working in opposition. You can close either one off or open/close both at the same time but that is about it.

No, I don't hold my breath. I keep an open passage to my lungs at all times (even between inhales and exhales) but I don't mind my 'lazy' soft palate generating a little stream of bubbles unless I'm listening for something then I block it.

My guess:

Soft palate: Structure, muscles, function | Kenhub

“When it comes to speech, the soft palate tenses and elevates. In this case, the back of the tongue presses against the soft palate in order to produce the velar sounds, which in English language are the [k], [g] and [ŋ]. It is important that the movement of the soft palate closes the communication with the nasal cavity. Otherwise, some air escapes from the oral cavity through the nose, making the speech sound nasal.”


Equalising for Freediving

“THREE SIMPLE EXERCISES FOR BUILDING AWARENESS OF SOFT PALLET: (Palate)

Breathe in the nose and breathe out of the mouth. Practice in front of a mirror so you can see the movement of the soft pallet at the back of your throat. Without the use of the mirror, you can feel the soft pallet open and close.


Inhale deeply and hold your breath keeping your cheeks inflated. Now blow out though the mouth (slowly) only whilst keeping your cheeks inflated. If no air has moved through your nose, this means your soft pallet is closed.


Inhale deeply holding your breath and again keeping your cheeks inflated. Slowly, let air out of your nose whilst keeping your mouth shut. You will notice that once you are holding your breath, your soft pallet is closed. As soon as you slowly let air out of your nose, your soft pallet opens. This means air is flowing from your oral to nasal cavity!”


And then there is this: Air bubbles out my nose when I breathe...

 

[RayfromTX]

I had to train my friend to not let air leak from his nose in a continuous stream. He was sucking tanks down much too quickly. He had to consciously close off his air passage to his nose. It took active thought and action at first, later just thought. He is still in the process of stopping it entirely. He is 90 percent there. He never even knew it was happening. His OW instructor never mentioned it to him either, nor the assistant DM.

 

[TMHeimer]

Yeah, I think that @tursiops may be on to something, some kind of reverse circular breathing. I say this as a former trombone player, not as an ENT doc. Sounds more habitual than anatomic, hard to say much more than that. Something like a pharyngeal tic developed from habitually and continually clearing your mask of water. Inhaled gas would normally just cause the lungs to expand, if you are breathing it in, but that raises another possibility, that @Bowers alluded to - if your reg is delivering gas at greater than what you inhale (sort of like a brief mini free-flow), that could raise your nasopharyngeal pressure above ambient and cause it to vent out of the mask...

I don't know for sure.

I have always been confused about circular breathing. Think I was told the wind player gets air up into the cheeks and blows with that while inhaling through the nose. That would mean air wasn't going up & down from the lungs at the same time (how can that be possible?). Maybe someone could better explain it to me and relate to how this or circular breathing in reverse could be affecting the OP.

 

[tursiops]

I have always been confused about circular breathing. Think I was told the wind player gets air up into the cheeks and blows with that while inhaling through the nose. That would mean air wasn't going up & down from the lungs at the same time (how can that be possible?). Maybe someone could better explain it to me and relate to how this or circular breathing in reverse could be affecting the OP.

Read up on it. There is possible air exchanged with the lungs. Read about Kenny G sustaining a note for 45 mins!

 

[doctormike]

I have always been confused about circular breathing. Think I was told the wind player gets air up into the cheeks and blows with that while inhaling through the nose. That would mean air wasn't going up & down from the lungs at the same time (how can that be possible?). Maybe someone could better explain it to me and relate to how this or circular breathing in reverse could be affecting the OP.

I don't know if that's what's going on with the OP, but basically it means that you use your cheeks like a bellows to force air trapped in your mouth out between your lips, while you are inhaling (moving your diaphragm down) which causes air to be entrained into your nose and to your lungs. So the air making the sound from the instrument isn't coming from the lungs but from the mouth during the inhalation part of the cycle.

It's not hard to do, try it...

 

[TooManyHobbies]

What the OP is describing sounds kind of like a backwards circular breathing, Circular breathing - Wikipedia, as used by didgeridoo and some others. Difficult, not impossible, but I've never heard of it being done backwards, i.e. breathing in through the mouth and out through the nose.

Wouldn't be possible backwards without a weird physiological problem. The inhale in circular breathing is done by squeezing puffed cheeks, not doubling the airway.

 

[tursiops]

Wouldn't be possible backwards without a weird physiological problem. The inhale in circular breathing is done by squeezing puffed cheeks, not doubling the airway.

I think you mean exhale?