Every time after a swim workout I get a runny nose, which seems to result from my nose and maybe my sinuses becoming dry. I've tried several things - using a nose clip while swimming, using a neti pot afterwards, and using an allergy relief spray with natural ingredients, but to no avail. For much of the rest of the day I'll be sniffling, having to blow my nose and it will be dripping. Some days are worse than others, but it can also interfere a little with my sleep. I really want to get into a regular routine of swim workouts, but this is getting in my way of being productive after I'm done swimming that day. Other than this, I have no problems breathing or anything like that. Any advice on how to treat or prevent this? Would taking a hot shower after I get home do the trick?
My nose runs all day after a swim practice. I just always assumed it was the pool draining out of my sinuses that had gotten in while I swam. I shower when I get out of the pool, so I don't know if that helps or not, but it doesn't affect my sleep.
^ I suffer in a similar fashion, though I just carry multiple hankies. :)
The pool I swim at switched to ozone a couple years ago, which improved matters greatly. I've tried nose clips before, but the darn things never stay on my nose. Many's the time I've pushed off the wall after a flip turn only to find it making a beeline for the bottom. Maybe I'm just attaching them incorrectly, my nose is the wrong shape, or I haven't found the perfect clip for my schnoz.
My theory is that this is caused by the sinuses becoming irritated (burned) by the pool water and chemicals. I use a saline spray after swimming (Ocean brand) and before bed and it seems to help reduce (but not completely eliminate) the length of time and the extent of sinus irritation from swimming. I think some pool water quality is easier to tolerate than is others.
I usually have trapped water draining out of my sinuses and nose for a few hours after an ocean swim. Not sure why that doesn't happen in the pool, but trapped water doesn't seem to be an issue after swimming in a pool.
I was thinking about this yesterday after my swim, and concluded that (in my case anyway) it is NOT an allergic reaction. Because...it usually happens not only after I've been swimming in the chlorinated pool...but also, like yesterday, after I've done an open-water swim (salt or fresh water). In most cases, like yesterday, hours later my nose will just begin to run. Not run with a thicker snotty mucus, but almost straight water coming out...actually dripping out of my nose. Given that every person's sinuses are probably formed a little differently, I think that my sinuses must have some pockets or crevices where the water gets trapped, maybe by suction, and then slowly drains out over a matter of hours. Think of a full bottle being turned upside-down without a vent hole. The fluid will drain out, but much slower. Blowing my nose helps a little, but only to get it out of my nose once it's drained out of whatever little crevice it came out of. Sometimes just turning my head a certain way will cause the water to drain. It'll drain for a few minutes. Then it's done.
Dan
About twenty years ago my nose was running after swimming, and the next day I would be sneezing. A girl who swam with us, a masters world butterfly champion and record holder, always wore a nose clip. I asked her why? She replied, "If I don't, then my nose would be running, and the next day I would be sneezing non-stop."
I went out and bought a nose-clip and the result was instant. I've always worn a nose clip since that day and have never suffered since. I have never swum even 25 metres since that day without wearing a nose clip. Even in competition.
Stuff irritating the membranes and tissues; can happen in pool (generally chlorine/chemical related) or open water.
A simple fix is to throw some warm salt water up each nostril after swimming.
I don't think chlorine or bromine have a protein, therefore it can't be an allergic reaction. I might be wrong.If you can smell the chlorine then you are smelling chorinate(sp). Then there is not enough chlorine in the pool. There aer protein s attached to the water.
But still get a nose clip.
