Tendency to breath through nose when looking up?

[orch1ds]

Hi all...

I noticed that when I am looking up to the surface I have a tendency to let water go through into my nose. Is this all psychological and lack of focus on just breathing through my mouth or is there some other issue going on?

Thanks!

 

[Charlie99]

Does the back of your throat tend to close up when you tilt your head way back? Increased breathing resistance there might tend to promote nose breathing. ..... just a wild guess.

 

[eponym]

I noticed that when I am looking up to the surface I have a tendency to let water go through into my nose. Is this all psychological and lack of focus on just breathing through my mouth or is there some other issue going on?

You're wearing a mask, right?

If there is any small amount of water in the mask, when you tilt your head back it will tend run into ("up") your nostrils. Tilting your head up imparts some inertia to the water in the mask, sloshing it into your nostrils.

You might check whether your mask is sitting high on your face--is the bottom of the nose pocket pushing against your nostrils? Pulling the mask down a bit can give you some relief.

When I'm teaching mask clearing skills, I tell students to start exhaling (gently) through the nose before tilting the head back. Give that a try and let us know.

-Bryan

 

[orch1ds]

Thanks... but, I'm not having problems when clearing my mask. Its usually when I am ascending and looking up at my computer on my wrist that this starts to happen.

You're wearing a mask, right?

If there is any small amount of water in the mask, when you tilt your head back it will tend run into ("up") your nostrils. Tilting your head up imparts some inertia to the water in the mask, sloshing it into your nostrils.

You might check whether your mask is sitting high on your face--is the bottom of the nose pocket pushing against your nostrils? Pulling the mask down a bit can give you some relief.

When I'm teaching mask clearing skills, I tell students to start exhaling (gently) through the nose before tilting the head back. Give that a try and let us know.

-Bryan

 

[don Francisco]

Sounds more like gravity. I think Bryan St. Germain is on the right track.

You're probably diving with a few drops in the nose of your mask, Possibly because you look down when you clear and it pools in the tip of the nose piece, or possibly because you don't purge every last drop.

As long as you don't look up it doesn't bother you, but as you tilt your head back you pour it up (now down) your nose.

Next time look out or up slightly (not down) when clearing your mask, or do one last thorough purge before looking up at the end of your dive.

BTW- at the end of a dive as you ascend, your mask becomes positively pressurized compared to outside water pressure. Not any problem, since it can vent under the skirt or through your nose. But if you let it vent through your nose while your nostrils are in a small pool of water, guess what'll happen.