Swimmer's Sinusitis

Former Member
Former Member
Every time I start back swimming, I get sinusitis. I can lay off of swimming for about a month and it clears up. There appears to be some research to indicate that this happens to some people, but I cannot find any indication that there is anything that can be done to stop it. I will have to stop swimming altogether if I cannot find a way to control this. I have tried nose clips, but I still get infected sinuses. Has anyone had this problem and found a solution that worked for them?

Top Replies

  • 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. :)
  • 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 have heard that saline works well & it's cheap. Try it for awhile:)
  • 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.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    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.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    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
  • 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.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    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?