Any correlation between sinuses and air conditioning?

[plongeursousmarin]

I live in South East Florida and I dive every week-end. Pretty much since we've been using the A/C (since March), I've dealt with a bit of sinus problems. Now we're in the dead of summer and the last few weeks have been tough getting down and ascending, especially of course the last 15 feet, which I have to do extremely slow. I've never done realy well with A/C in general, for some reason I always end up congested. I was wondering if this is a common problem among divers and if the remedy is just Sudafed, even though I'm not a big fan of mixing medication and diving.
Thanks for any feedback

 

[TSandM]

Air conditioned air is very dry, which can irritate air passages. But I'd be more suspicious that the ducts are dusty, and you're having some allergy problems. You might try one of the non-drowsy antihistamines like Claritin and see if that helps. (Please note that I cannot diagnose or prescribe over the internet, and this is just general advice.)

 

[ScubaCatgirl]

I have always had allergy/sinus problems & take Allegra every day. Because of this issue I always have problems descending on my very first dive i.e. equalizing. When I first started diving I noticed that if I didn't take a Tylenol Sinus on my surface interval, then I would be unable to clear my mask i.e. nose is clogged again.

Until last year when I discovered the Sinus Rinse by NeilMed. Ever since using this & on a daily basis I might add, I don't have to take the additional Tylenal Sinus medication on my SI in order to breath through the nose. I highly recommend this non medicated way to clean the sinus passages. Yes, it may be gross, but I want to breathe & I want to continue to dive. Seems to me this is the safest way to go rather than taking a medication & I've found it to work so much better than an OTC med.

 

[HowardE]

When was the last time you changed the filter on your AC?

 

[DocVikingo]

As others have indicated, the drying effect of AC and dust/allergins (e.g., mold) that can build up in the duct work can cause sinus problems.

These may be partially overcome by having the air humidified, either by central unit or a room humidifier, and using ultra high efficiency/electrostatic filters.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[Dive-aholic]

It's probably the filter/dust. One of the hospitals I work at gets my allergies really going. It's an older hospital and they've been doing a lot of construction on it the past couple of years. I'm sure the AC filters haven't been touched. I feel fine about 20 minutes after leaving work.