Runny Nose while Diving

[saturn27]

Aloha!

I did a search to see if this issue had been brought up before, and I didn't see anything, so sorry if this is a repost.

My husband just started scuba diving, and everytime he dives, he gets a runny nose. He doesn't have allergies or a cold and he is just fine before he starts the dive. It is not causing him any problems with equalizing, but he does find it annoying. Since his nose is running the whole time, it starts breaking the seal of his mask. Sorry for the gross picture.

Does anyone else have this problem, know what could be causing it, or know a way to fix it?

Thanks!

 

[fisheater]

Mask snot is pretty common, even though it's not pretty.

 

[Michael_Lambert]

Yup VERY common, When we complete our dive i will take the mask off and give it a good cleaning before getting out of the water... Nothing cooler than pointing out your buddies boogers on his for head on the boat

Its all good.

 

[saturn27]

haha! thanks for the info. Guess I'm lucky then cuz I have yet to experience this.

 

[JBRES1]

It works great as a anti fog agent.

I have had the runny nose on a few dives where I ended up removing my mask under water and clearing my nose.

Jim Breslin

 

[austriandiveress]

My BF blows his nose on every dive, sounds like a moose in heat is underwater.... I do my best not to be right next to him...

 

[SkimFisher]

My BF blows his nose on every dive, sounds like a moose in heat is underwater.... I do my best not to be right next to him...

 

[DandyDon]

Snotty noses are common in scuba. It may help to give your nose a good blow before and after the dives, but mostly we just accept it. It's part of being a dive buddy: to tell each other when they have snot on their faces after boarding. When my home bud was new, he over did equalizing, got a bloody nose, then bloody snot in his mask, then onboard smeared it all across his bald forehead. Even a physician aboard got repulsed.

While it is okay to take your mask off underwater, do so only if you have control and do not remove it on the surface for fear of snot. Keep the mask on your face and reg in your mouth until fully aboard. Safety before vanity.

 

[SkipperJohn]

I dont know if this is related but I too had this problem then one day last week I had a reverse squeeze as I ascended and my left ear would not clear. I took the afternoon off and on the advice of some friends with far more experience, I took a bunch of sudafed. The next day I was able to easily clear (unlike ever before) and no running nose before or after.
I'm told by my fellow divers it was my sinuses causing both the runny nose as well as my clearing issues. Sudafed worked great on both and will now be part of my save-a-dive kit.