How do you not get water up your nose when you remove your mask?

[Jaydubya]

I remember worrying about this when I was getting certified. I knew it wasn't an issue when breath holding as in swimming under water but I wasn't sure I could breathe with only my mouth. It turned out to be a non-issue. The reason there is a nose pocket in scuba masks is to allow clearing and equalizing, not to keep water out of your nose.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Before you try and do the mask-off skill, practice just letting a little water into your mask so your nostrils are submerged. After you go through several breathing cycles let a little more water in and get used to that. At this point you will realize that there isn't any difference between a little water and the mask half full of water. Finally, flood the mask with your eyes closed and leave it in place and just concentrate on breathing. It will be the same as the other two times because your nose has already been underwater. Now, pull the mask off and sit there and go through 5 or 6 breathing cycles with your mask off. There is no difference between doing this and having your mask on completely full of water. The water is touching your eye lids now, big deal, you have a regulator in your mouth and you can breath right?
Put your mask back on and clear it and open your eyes, skill done.
Congratulations.

 

[g1138]

There's a physiological process to this as well as a mental process.
We have two "valves" that control our breathing. Our epiglottis and our soft palate.
The soft palate sits right behind your throat and under your nose. The epiglottis sits below your vocal cords.

If you close your epiglottis you seal off airflow entirely. It's how we humans hold our breath.
But if you seal your soft palate, you seal off airflow through your nose, thereby only being able to breath through your mouth. This is what you need to seal in order to keep yourself from breathing water up your nose. Not sealing this will force you to inhale a little through your nose drawing up what ever is outside it.

For a quick test to see if you have soft palate control:
Try putting a scuba mask on without the strap and suck through your nose to keep the mask on. Now try to just breath through your mouth while looking down at the ground. If you can keep the mask on your face for a while then you have soft palate control and all you'll need to do is practice the mental aspect of diving without a mask. Which is getting comfortable.
But if your mask immediately equalizes and falls off then you don't have good soft palate control.
*I'd like to mention that the mask has to actually fit you for this to work.*

To Test if you have independent control over your epiglottis and your soft palate:
Another way of testing this is to exhale through your mouth. Now cover your mouth with your hand to prevent any air from escaping, and continue to exhale. Your cheeks should puff up and your should not be exhaling through your nose. Doing that means you're using your soft palate.
After a few seconds, immediately release your hand and without pause you should be able to continue your exhale through your mouth. If there's a pause then you were using your epiglottis.
Now try again but this time keep your hand over your mouth and switch your exhale through your nose. You should feel a slight jolt behind and above your tongue. This occurs as your soft palate opens and the air rushes out your nose. It's above the point where you usually feel a sore throat, if you feel the jolt closer to your chest then that's your epiglottis, not your soft palate.


Do a search on the Freznel equalization technique. One of the key things to perform that technique is to have independent soft palate and epiglottis control. If you find a tutorial on the Freznel technique, there will usually be a set of exercises on how to gain soft palate control as well.
Down the road you may even choose to use this technique over the Valsalva Maneuver, since Freznel is hands free and it's also nearly impossible to blow out your eardrums using this method.

Also personally I always exhale out my nose when I'm swimming maskless. I also wear contacts so I just keep my eyes shut, but partially open one eye. Try not to curl your lashes on dive days, they really help to keep a lot of water out when you do this. Not that I've ever tried curling my lashes.......

 

[TSandM]

g1138, THANK YOU for those exercises! I think we will start using them with students, even before they GET in the pool. Great stuff!

 

[PatW]

For some reason, people get upset if they get water on their face and really go nuts if any goes up their nose.

There is a little exercise that teaches breath control. I did this as a child learning how to swim. You stand in water about chest deep. You bend over and put your face in the water and gently blow bubbles. Having a slight positive pressure in your nose will keep water out of it.

I understand that many students have problems with mask clearing. For many, it is how they do it. They face the instructor with their faces vertical and take off their mask. When they breathe out, the bubbles from the regulator convey water up their nose, which is unpleasant. This problem can be solved by either a) moving your face forward and facing it down so the bubbles go past your neck and not up your nose or b) arching your head back and looking up so the bubbles go away from your nose.

 

[EFB]

I like the way you think ZKY! Thanks

 

[DivemasterDennis]

There are some good and not so good suggestion here. The best one- keep you head horizontal. Next- don't inhale. And don't move much. You can move and not get water- I have done a number of no mask diving exercises for training, but that's for after you have some substantial underwater time. Don't overthink the problem, as it will likeley be no problem. Let me address contacts. I need glasses- have never worn contacts. I have prescription masks, and they are worth the cost. You can get adequate vision correction by buying masks with ground lens "pop ins" from many dive retailers at a total cost of only about $200, and it is a great thing to not worry about contacts. My wife started diving after she had lazik, and that is something to consider as well now that you have another reason- Diving! But look into a prescription mask, and don't worry about the water up your nose.
DivemasterDennis

 

[EFB]

There's a physiological process to this as well as a mental process.
We have two "valves" that control our breathing. Our epiglottis and our soft palate.
The soft palate sits right behind your throat and under your nose. The epiglottis sits below your vocal cords.

If you close your epiglottis you seal off airflow entirely. It's how we humans hold our breath.
But if you seal your soft palate, you seal off airflow through your nose, thereby only being able to breath through your mouth. This is what you need to seal in order to keep yourself from breathing water up your nose. Not sealing this will force you to inhale a little through your nose drawing up what ever is outside it.

For a quick test to see if you have soft palate control:
Try putting a scuba mask on without the strap and suck through your nose to keep the mask on. Now try to just breath through your mouth while looking down at the ground. If you can keep the mask on your face for a while then you have soft palate control and all you'll need to do is practice the mental aspect of diving without a mask. Which is getting comfortable.
But if your mask immediately equalizes and falls off then you don't have good soft palate control.
*I'd like to mention that the mask has to actually fit you for this to work.*

To Test if you have independent control over your epiglottis and your soft palate:
Another way of testing this is to exhale through your mouth. Now cover your mouth with your hand to prevent any air from escaping, and continue to exhale. Your cheeks should puff up and your should not be exhaling through your nose. Doing that means you're using your soft palate.
After a few seconds, immediately release your hand and without pause you should be able to continue your exhale through your mouth. If there's a pause then you were using your epiglottis.
Now try again but this time keep your hand over your mouth and switch your exhale through your nose. You should feel a slight jolt behind and above your tongue. This occurs as your soft palate opens and the air rushes out your nose. It's above the point where you usually feel a sore throat, if you feel the jolt closer to your chest then that's your epiglottis, not your soft palate.


Do a search on the Freznel equalization technique. One of the key things to perform that technique is to have independent soft palate and epiglottis control. If you find a tutorial on the Freznel technique, there will usually be a set of exercises on how to gain soft palate control as well.
Down the road you may even choose to use this technique over the Valsalva Maneuver, since Freznel is hands free and it's also nearly impossible to blow out your eardrums using this method.

Also personally I always exhale out my nose when I'm swimming maskless. I also wear contacts so I just keep my eyes shut, but partially open one eye. Try not to curl your lashes on dive days, they really help to keep a lot of water out when you do this. Not that I've ever tried curling my lashes.......

That is lots of great info! Thanks a million

 

[TMHeimer]

A lot of complicated responses. It's simple (I think...). First you have to accept that water will always go into your nostrils (unless you exhale through the nose, which I don't recommend as this keeps everything wide open so water can get into your sinuses and maybe down your throat--this is what you don't want). Plus when you finish your nose exhale you may possibly forget that you are breathing through the mouth and inhale through the nose? You have to close off the passage that leads from your nose to the other nasty places. You can still at the same time continue breathing from your mouth, so it is not holding your breath. How to close this thing off? Hard to explain, but we do it on land all the time. Try (on land) breathing only through your mouth with your nose closed off tight as a drum (no use of hands!). Or, try exhaling throught your nose then abrubptly stop it-- maybe by thinking you're saying "hmph" with your nose-you will feel the "door" in there shut closed tight. Once it's closed off just hold that position and continue mouth breathing--it's no effort--you could hold it this way for a lifetime. Again, if it's water just in your nostrils, that will always be there and won't harm you. It's best to just get used to that than to try to empty your nostrils.

 

[Walter]

I tell my students, "You only need 3 things at the pool at this point. 1. Mask 2. Snorkel 3. Weight belt with weight." At this point, I do overweight my students.

At no point will we leave the shallow end of the pool and I stay between my students and the deep end.

We take our snorkels off our masks and put on our weight belts. Leaving the masks on the pool deck, put on our weight belts, take our snorkels and get into the shallow end of the pool. I keep them no deeper than chest level, waist deep is even better. We put our snorkels in our mouths and breathe from it. I tell them they are learning to breathe through a snorkel. Now that's obviously silly, but I am training them to be comfortable with a mouthpiece in their mouths for long periods of time. I require them to keep the snorkel in their mouth except when the have to take it out to accomplish a particular task. I explain everything first, then I demonstrate the skill, then I give them tips on how to complete the task. Finally, they do the skill. They do it over and over until they think it is easy.

I always teach with simple J snorkels. It can be hard to find them, I keep supply on hand and give them a snorkel with their class. Purge valves and devices to keep water out are unnecessary and a crutch,

I first show them how to breathe through a flooded snorkel. Dipping the snorkel into the water, I hold it up and show (clear J) them the tube is completely blocked with water. I then inhale through the snorkel, bubbling air through the water. Once I have a good breath, I blast the water out of the snorkel. I then have them do the skill.

The second skill involves misdirection. I have them bend over and breathe through theirr snorkels while dipping their faces into the water. If they are comfortable, they stay awhile until they feel natural. If they have difficulty, I tell them to think about drinking through a straw while they practice the excercise. I tell them to remember, they can always stand up to end the excercise at any time. If they need to, they can slowly build up their time until they feel comfortable. They think they are learning a very easy skill - breathing through a snorkel. What they are really learning is no mask breathing. This is a skill that many experienced divers have not mastered. Following this method, your students will master the skill on the very first pool session.

Next, practice dropping underwater, allowing the snorkel to flood and coming up to blast it clear, leaving their face in the water. Continue until they are comfortable.

Finally, we drop our snorkels to the bottom, drop down, put it in our mouths, come up and blast it clear.

At this point, you have accomplished three important things.

1. You lowered their anxiety level by working in a no risk (shallow) environment.
2. Your students became experts in no mask breathing.
3. Your students know they can breathe with a flooded mask.

Now, put your snorkels down and pick up your masks. Tell your students to put it on and drop down to their knees. (Don't forget you explain and demonstrate before having your students attempt any skill) They will then break the seal just enough to allow a small amount of water in. Clear the mask. Do not pull out on the bottom, merely push in on the top while looking up. The biggest mistake most people make is not looking up. The second most common mistake people make is not exhaling through their nose. They must keep their mouths closed. Repeat this until they are comfortable. Don't forget to have them stand up and catch their breath between clearings. Now, increase the amount of water they allow into the mask to about ¼ flooded. When they are comfortable with that level, move to ½, then to a fully flooded mask. When you've reached the point they can clear it easily every time, see how many times they can clear it on one breath. I demonstrate clearing my mask 6 times on one breath. My students all reach at least three times before I move on. After you are at this point, clearing their masks will be easy. You will have reached it in a step by step manner that was easy to accomplish.

Now we drop the mask, put it on, clear it and come up. Finally, put the snorkel on the mask, drop it, recover it, clear the mask, come up and blast clear the snorkel. Remind them that they've just cleared their mask three times on one breath and that this exercise is much easier.

I've found this method to be very effective.