Swimmer's Sinusitis

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 16:49:43 GMT

I am just making the connection to my recurring sinus infections after reading these posts. Another recommendation is a probiotic specifically for ear, nose, and throat. I am going to add that to my routine in addition to using xClear. Hopefully, we can get this under control soon because the only other alternative is to give up swimming.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

jackback — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 10:17:08 GMT

had yearly sinus infections despite saline flush and flonase daily ... 2 years ago forced myself to use nose plugs and lo and behold no problems in that time and no more saline flush and flonase ... and i think i'm finally getting used to the nose plugs !

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Bobinator — Tue, 04 Apr 2017 11:45:17 GMT

3 things I think are helping me with this problem: 1. 2 to 3 snorts of saline shot up the nose after each swim 2. 2 X a day I'm taking a teaspoon of elderberry syrup for building immunity. (you can get it at Whole Foods) 3. I usually get my sinusitis in November, so starting in October through the end of December I'm using Flonase to prevent the problem. The physician told me to start a month before I usually get it because it takes that long for it to work. This routine has worked for me this year. I'm hoping it continues to work for the rest of my life; I hate sinus infections.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Mon, 27 Mar 2017 11:45:47 GMT

I had a sinus infection two weeks before the senior Olympics, took an antibiotic that helped. Worked out only 2,300 yards that week and only 3,000 the next week because of bad weather, swim a senior Olympics 50 yard and 100 yard breaststroke and did ok.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 09:18:45 GMT

I'm 64, a slow open water distance swimmer in the NC ocean and now FL Gulf with many years of ear/sinus infections until, recently whent the end of a swim, I cup in my hands a fresh water/mild soap solution, best is Dr Bronners liquid soap...ram my nose in and snort it in till I gag...sounds ugly but sure does flush out the sinuses and eustacean tubes and sure beats that ear pain...no more infections.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 12:14:11 GMT

I get sinusities about twice a year. Probably not related to swimming as I swim in a salt pool. However, your problem might be related to acid reflex. Try taking a Zantac acid reflex prior to swimming.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 17:21:24 GMT

.I have noticed something about my sinus that I wonder if other swimmers have. I am finding many swimmers do NOT sneeze after they swim. I always sneeze once or more until I go to bed. I am wondering if other swimmers with sinusitis have that symptom and do none sinusitis swimmer not sneeze after swimming. Comments welcomed. I just started using a nose clip.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

jackback — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 01:18:20 GMT

i have had a similar problem ... constant sinus pressure and pain with or without sneezing ... had to use flonase and the neti-pot just to keep it manageable and would still wind up in the doctors office ... 6 weeks ago i started with nose clips for probably 2/3 of my work out (still have problems with it sprinting freestyle) but my sinusitis has cleared up with the nose clips ... Yea !!!

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

bjbrnwv — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 09:47:50 GMT

For me, Flonase has been the answer. It took about two weeks following the package directions but I started to see results after the first week. Hope this helps someone else too.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

m2tall2 — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 08:11:30 GMT

Agreed. I think a lot of it has to do with the facility and the indoor/outdoor air quality. If you have allergies or asthma probably even more susceptible. My environmental allergy test lights up like a Christmas tree (everything tests positive) and whenever I would tell allergists that the pool made problems worse I basically got the hairy eyebrow. I would come out itchy eyes, itchy nose and sneezing...from an indoor pool with poor air quality. I think that if your passages are inflamed or struggling with other issues poor pool water or air quality can really add to the irritation. I feel like I'm finally at a place where my allergies are under control with a combination of meds. I don't have any problems with any of the pools I swim in anymore. The previous itchy eyeball pool has been torn down because the entire school had ventilation problems too big to handle so I can't say if it would still be a problem. But I walked into an old pool area the other day to observe lessons and I was very itchy after watching for an hour without even going in the pool. Point being...make sure any other ENT problems are under control and even then you just might have to find a different pool.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Thu, 12 Nov 2015 06:10:48 GMT

I hate that anyone suffers from this, but am glad I'm not alone. For me I am pretty convinced the particular facility where my team swims is the culprit - it's terribly stuffy in there and has poor circulation. Even with a nose plug and not doing flip turns I was having problems. When I swim at a different pool I seem to be ok. I hope you find relief!

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 11:57:56 GMT

It is now 10 years after my initial post on this. I was searching again to see if I could find any new solutions to my problem, and I came upon this thread. I have tried everything listed in these suggestions but still have the problem. After not swimming for several years, I swam for about 20 minutes a few weeks ago and, that night, could feel the sinus issue coming on again. I really miss being able to swim, so if anyone has any new ideas, I would love to try them.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:38:59 GMT

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:05:49 GMT

What happens if sinusitis is left untreated? I only went to the doctor once for my sinusitis and got t treated but it came back several times after that and I just took ibuprofen for it and it worked for a little while but it comes back every couple of weeks. Is it that bad if I leave this untreated like I have before?

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:46:49 GMT

This hasn't passed. After swimming last night I woke up sneezing like mad at 2.30am. my bad!!!

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:40:25 GMT

Hmm, I also swim in a scy salt pool. The sinus pain issue I had was temporary, guess I was really blocked up...

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:10:13 GMT

I've had really bad rhinitis ater swimming for six months and have tried everything. However, a few weeks ago I had swine flu which hit me pretty hard. I've had a very slight runny nose for two weeks (nothing too bad but just a hang on from the flu) but in the first four sessions since the flu I have not had rhinitis once. I have no idea what's going on and I hope it stays like this because I feel so much better. Can rhinitis be a transient thing? I had a similar reaction for about two years, fifteen years ago, after drinking red wine. If I had a couple of glasses of red wine I woke up the next morning sneezing really badly. That passed too.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:45:03 GMT

Last year my pool quit using chlorine and changed to a salt pool. All my sinus problems went away.:bliss: And it's been so much better for my hair and skin. :) You're lucky -- I swim in a scy salt pool and consistently have sinus problems from it. Flonase does wonders, but I try to limit my use of it. Saline and neti pot have never seemed to help. Now that I'm used to it I won't ever give up my nose clip.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:07:28 GMT

I had an issue yesterday where my sinuses were so blocked that if I went more than 3 feet below the surface, I had terrible pressure behind my eyes....never experienced that before. I got out because I was afraid I'd blow a blood vessel or something. Anyone experienced something like that?

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

sydned — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:59:18 GMT

I love the idea of the Neti Pot, but it has never worked for me, and it's hard to do it when my family is standing in the bathroom laughing at me. The last few months, my allergies and sinus issues were so bad, I had to go for the big guns and start Flonase. My family agrees that it has changed all of our lives since I am able to sleep at night, and while I hate the idea of it, I am happy, rested, and comfortable for the first time in so long. (I've done Flonase before and never had this positive a reaction.) Until the cold weather takes hold, I'll take it.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:52:40 GMT

netti pot

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:01:11 GMT

www.umm.edu/.../sinusitis-000153.htm flonase works for me.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:23:26 GMT

I have had sinus problems for 2-3 years and I just started swimming in June this year. I have noticed that ever since I started swimming I have had multiple sinus infections. Today my doc told me I have Chronic Sinusitis, just great. I have read some of the posts and I will try some of them. One in particular is the nasal saline before and after swimming. I will see how that works. Thanks. Ellen

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:30:15 GMT

I've got the same problem... I mostly just deal with it since that seems like the only long term solution, but when it gets worse then "normal" the saline definitely helps out.

RE: Swimmer's Sinusitis

The Fortress — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 04:39:11 GMT

I too had sinusitis which wouldn't go away a few years ago. I'd have an infection, treat it with antibiotics, and then a few weeks after that was done it'd reappear. It went on for about 9 months and I was absolutely miserable. I've always been a very allergic person with lots of hayfever so around then I started in with allergy shots. While chlorine is not a true allergen the allergy shots helped to both desensitize me to the pollens, which helped since I swim outdoors, and in general calmed my sinuses down so they didn't react so bad to the chlorine. Since then I haven't had any more sinus infections. Also when I was having problems a saline nasal rinse seemed to help, kind of like the ocean spray but taken to 11. This is what I used, and while it felt weird at first it did provide relief. My ENT didn't recommend using it forever though as she felt it would dry out my sinuses too much. www.neilmed.com/.../sinusrinse.php Obviously there's no guarantee that this will help, but I eventually found relief, hopefully you can too. Good luck, I feel for you, sinus problems are awful and hard to treat. I've had terrible debilitating sinus/bronchitis issues in the past, but have been healthy for awhile now. Allergy shots made me worse, and they only work for about 30% of adults. Regularly taking my allergy meds and using a neti pot and saline spray periodically seems to help. I've been dramatically better since we now have no dogs in the house ... that may be the single greatest difference actually.