face-up underwater without a mask

[Jcp2]

I imagine face up to be a difficult position to keep water out of nose unless exhaling (like in a flip turn at pools end). Maybe a nose clip is the best solution. That’s what synchronized swimmers use, and they probably know best.

 

[mcohen1021]

lol, i did not understand 90% of the original post. equalizing is equalizing regardless of mask or no mask. put on a pair of swim goggles and go to the bottom of a pool.

 

[Outbound]

I have done it but the only way i can explain it is my tiny, girly nostrils, which have more air/water surface tension than most man nostrils.
Second, is when my mask is off, i “almost exhale” as if i am putting slightest positive outward pressure on my nose air to counter inward pressure of water, but not enough pressure to exhale air.
Until someone invents comfy nostril one way vents like what’s on the bottom of my snorkel, that all I got.

This. You don't actively have to be exhaling through your nostrils to prevent water from going up your nose. All you have to do is exhale enough to create slight outward positive pressure. I do this all the time when playing around in the water when not diving and therefore not wearing a mask.

 

[malipython]

Outbound, yes, I know what is that "all I have to do", but face-up underwater I've never succeeded in creating that slight outward pressure and keep water out with it, despite 8 months of practice and a couple of thousands of tries... As I mentioned in my previous post, air refuses to act like a plug in my nose when I'm face-up and I haven't yet found an answer why. I went to doctors, had a septum deviance correction and nasal polyps removal surgery and I still can't do it. That is why Im posting on this forum, maybe someone more experienced fella knows the answer. I know my first post is a mess, wish I could edit it lol.

 

[Bubblesong]

Outbound, yes, I know what is that "all I have to do", but face-up underwater I've never succeeded in creating that slight outward pressure and keep water out with it, despite 8 months of practice and a couple of thousands of tries... As I mentioned in my previous post, air refuses to act like a plug in my nose when I'm face-up and I haven't yet found an answer why. I went to doctors, had a septum deviance correction and nasal polyps removal surgery and I still can't do it. That is why Im posting on this forum, maybe someone more experienced fella knows the answer. I know my first post is a mess, wish I could edit it lol.

Please post a photo of your nostrils from several angles so we can most efficiently diagnose your Nose-Close-Woes.

 

[malipython]

Im gonna go find my nasal CT CD before the surgery so I can post them too. Btw, I also thought about a central neural system problem, mine may not be sophisticated enough to control my breathing that punctually...

 

[John C. Ratliff]

I'm not sure why you want to do this, on you back without a facemask, trying to keep water out of your nose while submerged? While it may be possible to keep that water from going down your throat, it's not possible to keep it out of your nose. We, at the U.S. Navy Underwater Swimmer's School in Key West, Florida in 1967 learned this the hard way. Here's a small selection out of my memoir (so far still unpublished):

During the pool work, we would be harassed. The instructors would swim up to us and pull a face mask off, or turn off our air. We would have to work with out buddy to solve our problems. If we surfaced, we'd be told to get out of the water and do twenty-five pushups. But we couldn't take off our gear. So we did the pushups with twin-tank aqua-lungs on our backs, weighing about 80 pounds.

At times, if this wasn't good enough for us, the whole class would be made to put their mask on underwater, so that it was full of water. We then had to get out of the water, lay down on our backs, and sings songs while doing a flutter kick.

I would have liked to have had a recording of those songs. We sang, but all that came out was the sound of drowning men as the water from our masks trickled down the back of our nose and into our throats. We sounded like a group-gargling experiment.
Copyright 2019, John C. Ratliff; from my unpublished memoir, Between Air and Water, the Memoir of an USAF Pararescueman."

Note that we could not keep the water from going down our nose and the back of our throat, creating havoc with the songs we were told to sing. Perhaps this will make you feel more human.

SeaRat

PS, this is one reason that facemasks were developed for diving, so we would not have to worry about this face-up attitude causing water to go down our nose.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Please post a photo of your nostrils from several angles so we can most efficiently diagnose your Nose-Close-Woes.

Oh, come on. You are not doctors, so give this diver a break. Enough of this on-line diagnosis!

John

PS, Malipython, please do not post those requested photos. That is ridiculous.

SeaRat

 

[Sam Miller III]

@John C. Ratliff
As always ! You are so correct !
Appreciate your input

I recall times when searching for California lobsters and became upside down ...it can be done but not a pleasant experience

Put me down for the very first edition of your book -- lavishly inscribed

Sam Miller, 111

 

[malipython]

John, I'd like to be able to do it, because I've seen with my own eyes many times how people (including a lot of friends and acquaintances) can be face-up underwater with air stuck in their noses so they don't flood the cavities, and how natural it is to them. Not one user in this topic also confirmed it is doable and that they do it all the time. If you are singing with a nose full of water it is absolutely normal that you get water down your throat. I know that the closing of the soft palate prevents water from going further down your throat, but your sinuses still get filled up with water. You never had to actually swim face-up underwater without a mask during your training? I've seen some videos even on youtube in which this excercise can be seen by freedivers or swimmers.