Sneezing after diving

[cargo]

I am new to diving and apart from one brief and shallow introductory dive my 6 or 7 training dives have all been in swimming pools and I have found that from the day after each dive I sneeze frequently for 2-3 days and have a runny nose - similar to hay fever.

These symptons are exactly the same as when I first went on a CPAP machine at night and the solution to that was a humidifier which solved the problem. I presume that this is the same problem since tank air is, of course, dry.

So far I have only discovered one scuba humidifier and that is very expensive. (I would have thought there would be something much cheaper like an alternate mouthpiece.) I do have to be sure that this is the cause and also that this is going to work before I fork out $150.

 

[TSandM]

I would be more suspicious that you're getting some chlorinated water into your nose and sinuses, and it's causing irritation. The dry air from the tank never goes through your nasal passages, after all.

 

[cargo]

Well at first I did think it might be water in sinuses but the mucus running from my nose is clear and once the sneezing wears off after 2 or 3 days, I have no congestion.
If that is the problem then how do I stop water from entering my sinuses? And more worryingly will it happen when I do my open water dives? - because the running nose is sufficiently bad to stop me from diving until the problem has run its course and I am planning on 2-3 dives a day in June. At the moment it is simply a nuisance but doesn't matter as I am only diving once a week.

 

[fisherdvm]

Try taking an antihistamine before your next pool dive. A non drowsy one is best. But check with your doctor first.

 

[diverchar]

Hi,

I realise this topic is quite old, but I'm suffering a similar problem and would appreciate some advice so thought I'd bump it back up.

I live in Turkey and completed my open water course last year. This year I have completed approximately 10 dives but half-way through the final 4 or 5 dives I've begun sneezing. At first I thought it must have been pollen trapped in the mask during the jaunt to the dive site, but it's happening weekly now and only during/after diving.
It's quite a severe fit; this first time I was 18 metres, quite cold but nothing serious and sneezed about 20 times, having to clear my mask several times Yesterday was similar. Descended to approx 20 metres and then 25 minutes into the dive sneezed 4- 5 times. After the dive the sneezing continued and by the evening I'd had enough and decided to take an antihistamine.

I'm not sure whats causing it, but it's getting to the point where it's putting me off diving. My father is a local instructor and he's confused by the symptoms too as I'm fine the day before/morning of the dive.

Any thoughts as to what is causing this?

Thanks,

Char