How do you not get water up your nose when you remove your mask?

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EFB

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Hello! Hubby and I are reading our PADI handbooks in preparation for our OW course. How do you keep water from going up your nose when you remove your mask? I will have to keep my eyes shut because I wear contacts and going without them is not really an option because my vision is pretty poor. I know you can get masks with prescription lenses (but I am really new to this and also, I would have to wear the mask on the boat to be able to see...I wouldn't want to deal with glasses that could easily be broken).

SO..I see me standing there with my eyes shut tight..sucking water up nose and choking..please tell me this is not the case.

Thanks
 
There are divers here with a lot more experience than me, but I think they'll tell you the same things.

1. Not likely, as you will have air in your sinuses and nose when you remove your mask. A very tiny exhalation will blow out any water that may enter your nostrils.

2. Practice removing your mask while having your face submerged in your sink/tub/pool. This will help with the anxiety.

After my first pool dives in my OW class, I had to buy a purge mask. The tiniest drops of water touching my nose would freak me out, and I'd think my mask was flooding. Later on, I had mask strap issues that would flood my mask. A dive buddy had to remind me to purge my flooded mask once, while distracted, following a fish. You'll get over this worry easily, just let your instructor know, and maybe get some shallow end pool time with him first, practicing this skill.
 
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It's tricky - I'm like you I think in that my nose doesn't seem to seal itself up very well.

To get more comfortable breathing underwater without the mask, try removing your mask above the surface and then dipping under - not quite as "traumatic" as pulling your mask off completely underwater. After a few breaths I think your body starts to "figure it out". I also occasionally breath out through my nose if it feels wet

The other thing you can try , which I saw on a TV show about military diver training, is to stand on dry land, put your mask on, fill it with water and just stand there and breath (I've actually tried this in the shower - it works). You don't need a tank or a regulator or anything.
 
From my experience, water doesn't automatically go up my nose, especially if you slowly exhale through your nose while your mask is off under water. water up my nose has never bothered me really though.

Swyped on the DroidX
 
Awesome replies everybody..thanks so much..
 
Take a water glass (empty) and upend it, and then put it in a sink full of water. The glass doesn't fill with water, does it? A little water may come up into the glass because of pressure, if your sink is deep, but on scuba, the pressure of the air in your nose is the SAME as the surrounding water, so the water has no power to displace the air. As long as the openings of your nostrils are pointed down, your nose will not take on water. If you tilt your head back too far, you can get a little bit in, but a very gentle exhale will prevent that.

If you are worried about this, the advice you have gotten about practicing in a sink or hot tub is very good. Mask skills and choking are a big hurdle for a lot of people.
 
First of all, your instructor should mention at some point (hopefully before you don the gear) that when on SCUBA you never, never, ever want to be holding your breath. When you're not inhaling you should be exhaling, even if only ever so slightly to make some bubbles. This will keep your airway open should you change depths (specifically go up a bit) abruptly.

When doing the mask drills, you just do the slight exhaling through your nose. That will keep the water from rushing up there.
 
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SO..I see me standing there with my eyes shut tight..sucking water up nose and choking..please tell me this is not the case.

Thanks

Could well be the case the first time you try it if you are not prepared. The preparation is ease into it gradually and then practice, practice, practice.

In my younger days (a long time ago) I tried snorkeling without a mask - instant nose full. I concluded it was impossible but scuba training taught me otherwise. You can practice this before you start scuba with a mask and snorkel, in a bath tube or sink even. You have to focus on conttrolling your breathing so you do not breath through your nose. Some can do it naturally. Others have to work at it. One of the very basic start points is to partially flood your mast so you nose is in the water and then breath through your snorkel. This will get you used to your nose being in contact with the water so you can get over that strange feeling yet limit the water's ability to travel up into your nasal cavity where bad things start to happen. Don't expect complete success the first try. As you get more control of your breathing and more comfortable just increase the difficulty. More water in the mask and ultimately no mask.
 
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your thinking is wrong on this, you should be thinking "how do I get comfortable with some water in my nose?"
 
Keep your head horizontal. If you look up, and sometimes if you look down, then water can flow into the nose. A small exhalation from the nose will remove any water that does happen to go up.

When practicing mask clearing, removal and replacement, perform a long, steady and controlled exhalation through the nose until you can feel that most of the water has been displaced out of the mask. Only at the very end of the exhalation should you look upwards, which will help remove the last dregs of water from the bottom of the mask. Don't look up before the mask is mostly cleared, or you will allow water to flow down into your nose.

It also helps if you try to control any anxiety. Many novice divers are anxious about mask clearing, removal and replacement. This commonly results in them exhaling too forcefully and quickly, which doesn't fully clear the mask. They also rush to look up early in the clearing process. The combination of looking up and having already fully exhaled allows water to flow more easily into the nose/sinus cavity. Remain calm, controlled, relaxed and focused during practice of this skill and you'll find that there is nothing to worry about.
 
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