Can you just hold your nose?

[Skittl1321]

Hey Skittl1321
The reason we lose visibility or, more correctly, the ability to see clearly is the way the eye works. The Eye is designed to see in an Air environment.
At sea level water is 784 times more dense than air, so, placing your eyes underwater removes the ability of the eye to clearly "see" because of waters different density and light refracting properties...make sense so far?

Yes- thank you. I don't really know if the low visibility has been the major stressor, or the open water in general (I've never dove with good visibility...) but I nearly didn't pass OW because I refused to take my mask off. I just kept shaking my head no, and eventually we did all the other skills, the instructor thumbed me up; and then I signed to him "wait, I'll take my mask off!" and did it. When I practice it now, I do still have my husband hold my BCD. So far, it hasn't gotten more comfortable. Unfortunately, I don't dive enough that I expect to ever be so comfortable as some people. But I would like to get better.

We have defogger, but it doesn't seem to work, so I just spit in my mask before going underwater.

Also, don't beat yourself up so much.... it takes time (especially if you are not in a position to be able to practice as often as you would wish) to cultivate calm when undertaking a real or perceived stressful action or task, it has to be repeated many times for the to body instantly react to an issue without conscious involvement from the Brain.

Thanks Maybe just being somewhere with clear water will make some of the worry go away.

I will say my dives have been enjoyable; I just worry about the emergencies. But it's nice to know the 'status quo' is no problem.

 

[TSandM]

I will say that what you are describing about the mask skills is what I call a "rattle". We all have them -- the things we just don't like. Some people have trouble coping with not having a regulator in their mouth all the time. Some don't do well in low viz. Some can't take a mask off.

Whatever the "rattle" is that you have, ignoring it is the wrong answer. Avoiding doing something because you aren't good at it will never result in being better at it -- and when the day comes when you NEED that skill, you'll be worse off than you were to begin with. So if mask skills bother you, do them all the time. Get a membership in a local pool and go swim laps with a snorkel and no mask. If cold water is what bothers you, do what a friend of mine did -- fill your sink with cold water, dump some ice cubes in it, and put your face in it!

There is a solution to almost everything that can happen to you underwater except panic. For this reason, holding panic at bay should be the primary goal of all training and practice, and that means improving anything that raises your level of anxiety, so that you can deal with all reasonably anticipated problems calmly. You can do it!

 

[xyrandomyx]

I second the maskless snorkel in the kitchen sink method. It worked for me. I'm not sure if you have exactly the same problem as I did, but, for me, it wasn't ever that I was unable to breathe through just my mouth or that I couldn't handle a bit of water in my nose. I just had a weird mental block when it came to breathing once there was some water in my nose. But a bit of practice, essentially forcing myself at first, sorted it out.

 

[MikkelBC]

How do you lose visibility without a mask? At least I've never noticed a difference swimming with mask vs. without one.

This sounds odd to me. With my mask on, I see everything clear and sharp. For example, I can read the digits on my dive computer and pressure gauge easily. With my mask off, everything becomes a blur. I would have no chance of doing a safety stop without help, because I would be unable to know my depth.

At this stage, the issue for me is panic.

It is very good that you recognize this in yourself. And you are not alone with this feeling. The good news is that you can get over this with practice. When you are diving, a lot of tasks are piled on top of each other at the same time. This thread has some good advice on how you can practice some of them without actually diving. Practice, practice, practice. This is the key. I know from personal experience.

 

[cocoajoe]

Sounds kinda like your major problem is not being comfortable in 'open water'. And to a lesser degree, mask being off.

 

[BlackPatch]

Yes- thank you. I don't really know if the low visibility has been the major stressor, or the open water in general (I've never dove with good visibility...) but I nearly didn't pass OW because I refused to take my mask off. I just kept shaking my head no, and eventually we did all the other skills, the instructor thumbed me up; and then I signed to him "wait, I'll take my mask off!" and did it. When I practice it now, I do still have my husband hold my BCD. So far, it hasn't gotten more comfortable. Unfortunately, I don't dive enough that I expect to ever be so comfortable as some people. But I would like to get better.

We have defogger, but it doesn't seem to work, so I just spit in my mask before going underwater.



Thanks Maybe just being somewhere with clear water will make some of the worry go away.

I will say my dives have been enjoyable; I just worry about the emergencies. But it's nice to know the 'status quo' is no problem.

Try this in the swimming pool.
Put your mask on then jump in. Close your eyes and remove the mask. Keeping your eyes closed and your non dominant hand on your nose, exhale gently through your mouth all the way to the surface.

Repeat this until you are comfortable keeping your eyes open and not having your hand on your nose.

Once you are comfy doing this then try putting the mask back on when under water on one breath and clearing it.

Maybe this would help?

 

[Skittl1321]

Try this in the swimming pool.
Put your mask on then jump in. Close your eyes and remove the mask. Keeping your eyes closed and your non dominant hand on your nose, exhale gently through your mouth all the way to the surface.

Repeat this until you are comfortable keeping your eyes open and not having your hand on your nose.

Once you are comfy doing this then try putting the mask back on when under water on one breath and clearing it.

Maybe this would help?

But I don't have any problem in the swimming pool. I did my mask skills great there. It's OW. I was truly shocked at how badly I started freaking out about this. Because I freaked out about a lot of things in the pool, but not mask skills. Pretty much everything else.

I think I will try the snorkeling in the sink. That will make me be used to being underwater without my lip covering my nose. (I've never had to hold my nose before when swimming...)

---------- Post added October 31st, 2013 at 04:55 PM ----------

Sounds kinda like your major problem is not being comfortable in 'open water'. And to a lesser degree, mask being off.

Maybe. But I've had no issues at all on any of my dives that weren't about performing skills. Cold water, low to no visibility, not incredibly deep (there just isn't really deep around here), but still deep enough to call it a dive. It's only when I take my mask off that I freak out. I've swam plenty of times in the ocean. I'm fine in the water. But there is something about scuba, and not being able to just go right to the surface that unnerves me. If everything is going well, I'm perfect- no problem at all. But I know that emergencies happen and I need to prepare for them too. If I just pretended like they wouldn't happen, I'd be good to go (at least until one does occur).

Oddly- I had a terrible time with regulator skills in the pool, but do those no problem at all in OW.

---------- Post added October 31st, 2013 at 04:57 PM ----------

This sounds odd to me. With my mask on, I see everything clear and sharp. For example, I can read the digits on my dive computer and pressure gauge easily. With my mask off, everything becomes a blur. I would have no chance of doing a safety stop without help, because I would be unable to know my depth.

I haven't tried to use scuba gear without a mask; but I've been able to read and adjust the settings on an underwater camera without a problem when swimming for fun. I can see fine without a mask/goggles.

 

[tracydr]

Thanks, I'll try those things. Snorkeling without a mask sounds even worse than scuba, but maybe less frightening if it's in the sink. This is different advice than what Igot in class, because I was told without a mask to breathe in through the mouth (obviously) but out through the nose. As opposed to both through the mouth. I wonder if I'd be more comfortable with this.

I must have a weird face, because water goes in my nose like crazy. I use my upper lip to close off my nose when I swim -I had no idea other people don't do this. No idea where I got it from, but it makes nose plugs unnecessary -, but obviously I can't do that with a reg in.

When I was having mask issues, I did a lot of swimming in the pool with my swim goggles and snorkel. I also did a lot of mask exercises with the snorkel. You can do a lot at the pool without needing to use scuba gear,just mask,snorkel and,maybe swim goggles.
I assume you have can go to lap swimming?
I had a hard time learning not to inhale and exhale from my nose,too. It just takes practice. Take swim goggles and a snorkel and breathe underwater with the snorkel. At first, you will do some sputtering,coughing,choking. I did. It took me a few hours to get to where I could comfortably swim with the snorkel and swim goggles. But, once I could, I had a huge problem solved!
Then,practice mask on and off. Swim with no mask. You don't need anything but the mask and your swimsuit. Some water in a pool helps but even a tub can work in a pinch.

With NDL scuba, you should always be able to go to the surface.if somebody has stressed to you otherwise and caused you believe that you can't their wrong. That's the point of NDL. You have no "ceiling" and can go to the surface at any time. Safety stops are a good idea but they are still optional.sure, bolting for the surface isn't great but no need to feel like you can't ever come up if you need to. There have been cases of beginner divers running out of air and drowning because they couldn't find the ascent line, the Divemaster, all sorts of silliness when the big air tank in the ceiling is only 60 feet above them. Instead, they sit with their buddy on the bottom and run out of air. Always breathe, that's the most important thing, not staying underwater! Remember, a safety stop is optional, and you can get recompression in a chamber. But, you can't survive drowning. We all need air.
Please don't be that diver! When you start diving deep, then you can start worrying about coming straight up.

 

[Skittl1321]

I assume you have can go to lap swimming?

The community pools close at Labor day. I'm not sure if I can get a day pass at the University pool or not. But it sounds like snorkel + sink first.

 

[Max Speed]

I've been able to read and adjust the settings on an underwater camera without a problem when swimming for fun. I can see fine without a mask/goggles.

Wow. A dolphin has learned to type and is posting on scubaboard!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

---------- Post added October 31st, 2013 at 11:21 PM ----------

I like to breathe out through my nose during extended no mask drills in colder water. Otherwise my nose sometimes stuffs up after several minutes and I cannot clear my mask when I do replace it. That situation turns the drill into a somewhat extended guess the depth and the exit point event.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2