Nose blow by?

[waytooslow]

Not sure if that is a good descrpitive subject title, but I am having issues with a small amount of air coming out my nose constantly, while breathing on a regulator.

After almost swallowing the whole pool the first day of pool (read dang near drowning, once I had enough and bolted - a couple of times choked cough through the reg and stayed ), and almost giving up, I stayed with the course and beat back the fears and issues.

But almost all the time, I can feel the mask being pressurized by my breathing - its small but enough to have air escaping the mask - constant gurgle.

In and Out, now if water is in the nose pocket or if I slide the mask up somewhat, I can kind of control it. Anyone have some techniques I can use? or is it a physical deformity kind of thing? I would really like to have this problem under control by open water testing in 4 weeks.

Thanks for any help

 

[seaducer]

Have you managed to breathe without a mask UW? The same muscle that closes your nasal passages off to breathe that way works with the mask on too.

Most of us exhale a bit into the mask to relieve the squeeze. It sounds like you must be exhaling too much.

It could be a physical thing, maybe an ENT doc can help you more...

 

[vixtor]

I have observed a few situations in which I might start inhaling or exhaling on my nose:
1. when i was not getting enough air from some low performance regulator or from some snorkel - relaxing and reducing the effort level helps a lot
2. when a hood was too tight
3. when i had some minor nose congestion, i was feeling the need to breathe through the nose from time to time to clear the congestion; removing the mask and blowing my nose into the water helped (i think the breathing need came from the instinct to clear my nose of congestion, but as I was not using my nose, this instinct would became more intense because it was not satisfied, until i had to blow my nose in order to calm it down).

By the way, exhaling through the nose is not bad. Just inhaling can create some problems.

Maybe you can try an exercise in order to see if/how you can stop your nose from breathing. Try laying on the bed face up, and put some water into your nose, until you fill it up (something like 15-20mm with a syringe), while breathing on your mouth continuously. If you can stay some time like this (1 minute for example), without swallowing the water through your neck or blowing it out on your face, it means you were able to control nose breathing.

 

[waytooslow]

Have you managed to breathe without a mask UW? The same muscle that closes your nasal passages off to breathe that way works with the mask on too.

Most of us exhale a bit into the mask to relieve the squeeze. It sounds like you must be exhaling too much.

It could be a physical thing, maybe an ENT doc can help you more...

yes I can breath UW without mask (during mask removal - for 2 minutes) as soon as I replaced the mask and succefully cleared - not easy for me) it started again, very aggrivating and makes me a air hog - hopefully this is something that will pass with more time, thought this is something that someone has seen , resolved or conqured in the past - I will stay tuned and thanks

BTW this does not happen when using snorkle at all.

 

[don Francisco]

There's no harm in exhaling through your nose except that in increases the likelihood of your mask fogging. I wouldn't worry too much and I'd give it time and see if it improves with practice. As long as you can breath on a regulator without a mask, and not inhale through your nose, you'll be OK.

You can also try this excercise on land from time to time. Keeping your mouth open, alternate breathing through the mouth and nose by only using the tongue and throat muscles to divert the flow. Do this from time to time & muscle memory will kick in when diving.

BTW- since this problem occurs only on scuba, it might be a mind thing, or possibly the shape and position of the mouthpiece changes your jaw position slightly affecting the air flow. Try breathing through the regulator on land, with and without a mask.

As I said, with patience this will probably clear by itself, or you can work at and find the key. It isn't the nose exhaling that makes you an air hog, it's that you're so focused on it.

 

[bigred177]

i have noticed myself doing this from time to time. ill take a breath in and the bubbles will continue to come out through my nose. i had never had it happen until u bought my new regs, i had them finely tuned so the will clean me out if i don't put some back pressure on it. once i realize I'm doing it i just close off my nose with that muscle in my throat and it stops. i find it happens more when I'm completely relaxed in the water, not thinking about flexing any muscles.

 

[BlueReef]

Yeah, it's nothing to worry about. Don Francisco said it all really, the main issue you'll have is your mask fogging up, so get good at mask clearing. I used to do it too, mostly when I was relaxed, - i.e. keeping the soft palate leading into your nasel cavity open usually, but for this to happen there usually has to be a bit of tension/pressure in your mouth forcing the airflow out through your nose - this can be caused by having to bite a bit on the mouth piece to keep the reg from slipping out. Do you know if you do this? Otherwise, you just have to concentrate on breathing 'properly' until muscle memory kicks in.

 

[waytooslow]

Thanks for the input.. will quit worrying about it and just work more on breathing techniques and see where it goes from there.

 

[Oxy]

BlueReef, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed some of your shells for around my door
Now that you guys mention it I started practicing breathing through my mouth while sitting here.
(it's been a long time since I played in the water)

 

[BlueReef]

BlueReef, I hope you don't mind that I borrowed some of your shells for around my door

hehe - I'll forgive you this time lol, as long as there are some left for the kids to inspect.