Air exhaling out of nose during inhalation

[jepuskar]

Ok, this happened about 3 times during my trip to Bonaire last week...when it did start happening, I was above 25 feet and it would continue until I surfaced. It did not happen below 25 feet, and only at the end of the dive when it did occur.

Here is what was occuring:

During inhaling, air would escape out of my nose and then cause it to escape out of my mask. I have never had this happen before, it was not air escaping out of my mask because of me ascending. To prove it was coming out of my nose, I squeezed my nostrils and it stopped...when I released, it would start up again..only on inhalation. On exhaling nothing would happen.

Physical factors to note: I was mildly congested the whole trip, no problems clearing ears though thanks to Allegra D and was diving Nitrox the whole trip.

I'm not sure if plugging my nose was the brightest idea because usually when gas wants to escape your body, its best to let it escape, but I wanted to prove it was my nose it was coming out of and not excess gas in my mask. Anyways, I didnt feel any discomfort when plugging my nose.

The experience was more of nuisance than anything to me, my reg was delivering air just fine, but it was frustrating because I didn't/dont understand what was going on.

What do you think was happening? Was some of the gas I was inhaling finding it's way out of my nose due to me being congested?

Jason

 

[diver_paula]

Same mask, reg and mouthpiece you typically use?

 

[jepuskar]

Yes, have over 200 dives on this setup..this has never happened before. Seeing that it only happened on inhalation I'm thinking some of the air had to of been going to my nasal cavity...but why only at shallow depths? When I surfaced and took breaths off of the reg, it wasn't doing it anymore. One time I descended back down to 10 feet and it didn't do it anymore.

I'm at a loss.

 

[diver_paula]

I just keep thinking if one inhales they inhale from the mouth and nose at the same time. I'm trying to picture a circuit where you inhale in through your mouth while exhaling through your nose.

Well my untrained conclusion is that it was either a nasal thang or you need a more intensive troll rehab treatment!

Paula

 

[jepuskar]

Haha, no Paula..my buddy can vouch that this really happened. It is also impossible to inhale and exhale at the same time, so the more I think about this...it had to be do to my congestion.

 

[rjchandler]

Haha, no Paula..my buddy can vouch that this really happened. It is also impossible to inhale and exhale at the same time, so the more I think about this...it had to be do to my congestion.

Ive been sitting here practicing - a very slow day - and it is indeed possible to do - sorta. I expect the congestion was causing an overlapping involuntary exhale. or maybe they weren't really happening at the same time - they just seemed that way.

 

[sapphire]

Jason,

This happens to me a lot. As background, I also have lots of allergy issues and take Allegra D when necessary. I have always attributed it to my sinus passages being just too clear... What is funny is that I can do multiple dives in a day, and have it happen on some and not others.

While a minor annoyance, the good news is that it would be really difficult to ever get a bad mask squeeze! I use a mask with a purge to avoid any fogging problems because of this, although I am not sure it makes a difference.

When it really bugs me, I pinch my nose. My dive buddies must think I encountered something nasty smelling at times!

 

[IslandHopper]

If you could reverse the process (inhale through nose while exhaling through mouth) you could start a carreer playing the didgeridoo

 

[O2BBubbleFree]

If you could reverse the process (inhale through nose while exhaling through mouth) you could start a carreer playing the didgeridoo

Ya beat me to it.

 

[jepuskar]

RJ, it happened during our safety stops so I was concentrating on it quite a bit and I am positive it was on inhalation, at the same time! When I would exhale nothing would come out my nose.

Sapphire, thanks for sharing, have you found out anymore on this? I wasn't congested enough not to dive, my ears were fine, just trying to figure out why this happened now.