The Snots

[mm2002]

I can relate with the deviated septum thing. I had surgery to fix mine around 10 years ago. Best investment I've ever made! I still have sinus problems and allergies, but claritin or sudafed does the trick for me.

[rach]

man, the best part of the SI is blowing my nose in the water before i get in the boat--totally grosses out the DM, too!

you're definitely not alone.

[BuzzGA]

I have to admit...as someone with allergies a few minutes of clear sinuses after a dive is a nice thing

[frankc420]

Originally Posted by caroln

It helps a lot to clean out your sinuses pre dive using a saline rinse. A lot of people recommend the neti pot, but anything should do the job. If there's not a lot of crap accumulated in your sinuses predive, there'll be less snot to deal with later. BTW thanks for not blowing snot in the water near where your buddies are swimming. I hate that.

Why would it matter? Your swimming in a fish toilet...

Have you ever thought on a low vis day, "What is all this ..crap.. in the water?" Especially on a site that has a lot of fish...

[CompuDude]

It's pretty normal, and happens to most people, actually. It's not difficult to see how filling your sinus cavities with high pressure air and then reducing that pressure to normal (when you surface) is likely to flush out the system.

It's SOP to pop your mask and give a quick blow and wipe upon surfacing, and then replace your mask. A good dive buddy should also always give a buddy who carrying bits of jellyfish a heads up...

Yet another reason to choose a mask with a black skirt, btw.

[mitsuguy]

as soon as I get in the water, salt or fresh, I always get a thorough nasal cleaning - whether scuba or just swimming... I have no allergies and no stoppages normally...

to me, its just something I deal with (prior to putting a mask on), cause if I don't there will undoubtedly be some in the mask I have to deal with later on...

[Navy OnStar]

I have pretty bad allergies and used to always seem to have a colony of jelly fish living in my nose. And no matter how hard I tried they reproduced faster than I could blow them out. Now I'm on Claritin and Flonase and the jelly fish are on birth control!

I have had Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec and any of these coupled with Flonase works wonders.

Also, I didn't have a deviated septum but due to my allergies the turbinates (soft tissue- most everyone have 3 layers) in my nose were swollen all the time. I went to the ENT and they did a turbinate reduction (outpatient proceedure) and with the exception of the needle stick, was apainless proceedure. Now I don't breathe through my mouth at night, I don't snore near as much, and the Jelly fish are down to a small family.

OnStar

[TRACI]

Saline rinse or a nasel spray before diving has help me alot.

[wgt]

Originally Posted by tremtech

How many of you experience the end of dive runny nose? I cant seem to get away from it . Every time after a dive as soon as I pop the gasket on my veiw finder I get this runny snotty nose that last for about 5 minutes. Depending on who your diving with it can be a little embarrassing( nothing worse than blowing your nose or spitting in the water as people are swimming with you back to your boat). I tried Affrin 12hr before the dive no difference, sudafed 24 hour about 3 hours before a dive no difference. Any advice?

As suggested above, most divers experience some form of nasal discharge after a dive (insert technical term from No Misses here). The customary approaches involve decongestants or antihistamines (again specified above) or behavioral adjustments designed to limit the discomfort of fellow divers (e.g., discreetly unclogging in the water). Another thing to try is an inspection of your mask. Just like the walls of your shower, the mask can eventually support its own ecosystem, and mildew is not an unusual house-guest. It's rarely a cure, but I do find it helpful to clean my mask with a mildew-killing agent. Be sure to rinse the mask very well afterwords, though, to prevent avoidable irritation of the eyes. It's hard to say in an individual case with this is an issue, but I do notice more problems when I have been ignoring the state of my mask.