Breathing in through nose

[mikeyjoe]

Ok, my wife is taking open water and she has discovered that she can't breath in with just her mouth - air comes in through her nose too. Big problem in the "flood your mask" skill and "take your mask off" skill.

Other than taking her to the pool with a mask and snorkel and practising, which I will do, do any intructors have any advice or tips?

Is she allowed to pinch her nose during the skills?

Cheers,

Michael

 

[llqwyd]

good technique is to start by having her practice breathing in her mouth and out her nose. nosebreathers do the opposite of this, but by practicing this technique, she will learn to breathe in only through her mouth. eventually, she will quite exhaling through her nose and only use her mouth.

alternately, cressi (or other manufacturers) make very small nose clips that will go under the mask and eliminate the problem alltogether (popular w/freediving)

good luck

 

[Sas]

Ok, my wife is taking open water and she has discovered that she can't breath in with just her mouth - air comes in through her nose too. Big problem in the "flood your mask" skill and "take your mask off" skill.

Other than taking her to the pool with a mask and snorkel and practising, which I will do, do any intructors have any advice or tips?

Is she allowed to pinch her nose during the skills?

Cheers,

Michael

I had this problem and solved it by snorkeling without a mask on. I choked on water for a bit but trained myself out of this.

It is not a good idea to get into the habit of nose pinching when doing skills so I'd really recommend against this. When a mask gets kicked off on a dive, you might not be able to quickly pinch your nose and you want to be able to handle things without that need.

Anyway, hope it all goes well with your wife! It is a common problem and one that is easily overcome with some patience and practice

 

[aascubagirl]

I agree w/Saspotato...while the noseclip idea could be of great help, it is possible your wife might become dependent upon them and that wouldn't be good. Here is what I would start with: have your wife sit on the steps of the pool with a snorkel only. Have her lean forward to put her face in the water and practice breathing in and out of the snorkel keeping her face (doesn't have to be her whole head) completely submerged. She doesn't have to open her eyes for this! She should recognize that this is a low-stress situation in which she can easily help herself if she becomes panicky or overwhelmed and snorts water.

Once she becomes comfortable with this, I would progress by having her sit further down on the steps and put her whole head under water and repeat the same process. Again, no mask, only snorkel. After she demonstrates a solid comfort level, I would then introduce the mask and repeat the entire two-step process all over again.

I know some people might think this is redundant but I've seen people do just fine underwater w/o a mask and their whole face surrounded by water - never snorting even a drop of water - but when they put the mask on and water gets inside, they freak out. So trying this two-step (face partially submerged, then entirely submerged) method in two separate phases (with snorkel only then with mask and snorkel) eases the person into feeling comfortable with their face completely surrounded by water and also feeling comfortable with water trapped against their face inside the mask - another sensation altogether!

Good luck and hope this info helps! I had very similar issues when I first started out but with time and practice, I overcame it and now I teach scuba!

 

[Steve50]

It is not a good idea to get into the habit of nose pinching when doing skills so I'd really recommend against this. When a mask gets kicked off on a dive, you might not be able to quickly pinch your nose and you want to be able to handle things without that need.

I agree w/Saspotato...while the noseclip idea could be of great help, it is possible your wife might become dependent upon them and that wouldn't be good. Here is what I would start with: have your wife sit on the steps of the pool with a snorkel only. Have her lean forward to put her face in the water and practice breathing in and out of the snorkel keeping her face (doesn't have to be her whole head) completely submerged. She doesn't have to open her eyes for this! She should recognize that this is a low-stress situation in which she can easily help herself if she becomes panicky or overwhelmed and snorts water.

Once she becomes comfortable with this, I would progress by having her sit further down on the steps and put her whole head under water and repeat the same process. Again, no mask, only snorkel. After she demonstrates a solid comfort level, I would then introduce the mask and repeat the entire two-step process all over again.

I know some people might think this is redundant but I've seen people do just fine underwater w/o a mask and their whole face surrounded by water - never snorting even a drop of water - but when they put the mask on and water gets inside, they freak out. So trying this two-step (face partially submerged, then entirely submerged) method in two separate phases (with snorkel only then with mask and snorkel) eases the person into feeling comfortable with their face completely surrounded by water and also feeling comfortable with water trapped against their face inside the mask - another sensation altogether!

Good luck and hope this info helps! I had very similar issues when I first started out but with time and practice, I overcame it and now I teach scuba!

Good advice - also she can practice the above at the kitchen sink !

 

[Ber Rabbit]

This sounds a bit off the wall but I found using a Neti Pot or NeilMed sinus rinse system helps get you accustomed to having water in your nose and breathing through your mouth. I thought I was going to drown the first time I tried my NeilMed kit last year and I'd been diving for 15 years. Once I got the hang of it though I could actually tell a difference in my "diving without a mask" comfort level.

Relying on a nose plug is asking for trouble. It's worth it to take the time to condition her so she breathes through mouth only. The first time something goes wrong and she ends up with her mask off unexpectedly on a dive and inhales water she may get scared enough to end up hurt or never wanting to dive again.

Food for thought: I had a student in an advanced class who had been allowed to pinch his nose during his OW class (with another instructor) and had always dove like that. His buddy came up sputtering and said the guy nearly drowned him on an out of air exercise we were doing in the pool. The whole nose pinching deal became a hazard when asked to share air with no mask on. He spent a lot of time in the pool working on breaking that habit before he got his AOW card.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[J.R.]

One way to learn to control nose breathing (out of water) is to teach the muscles that control such things.

1: Open your mouth (relaxed... as in open mouth breathing)...
2: Now start breathing...
3: Place your tongue on the roof of your mouth
4: That *should* kick your breathing into "nose only"
5: Now... concentrate on contracting the muscles around the nose to shut off the
flow of air through your nose... you SHOULD be able to clamp of the air passages
so that no air is coming in... (hey... yer' above water... you won't drown...)

Keep practiciing starting and STOPPING nose breathing... when you get the trick down try the same exercise WITHOUT placing your tounge on the roof of your mouth... same muscles.

 

[Straegen]

Don't have anything to add other than I didn't realize there were people who had difficulty just breathing through their mouth. Interesting...

 

[J.R.]

Don't have anything to add other than I didn't realize there were people who had difficulty just breathing through their mouth. Interesting...

I know what ya' mean... it wasn't until I started doing the Divemaster thing and got asked to help folks with the problem that I realized it either. Interestingly it kinda' works in one of two ways:

A: Some folks always breath IN through their nose while they breath IN through their mouth... and;

B: Some folks EXHALE through both nose and mouth at the same time... (if the mouth is open... which, if you had a reg in it, it would be...)

Both issues are solvable with awareness and practice. I actually find that when I take my mask off I have to concentrate intially on not sucking water up my nose... it passes quickly and I don't have any problem shifting once I make the concious shift... but there *is* this moment...

 

[nwhitney2003]

I can't imagine a nose clip would be a good idea. Mostly because I don't know how you could either clear your mask or exhale into your mask to relieve pressure with a clip on your nose.