I swim in the eveneing, and the next day I cannot stop sneezing, and my nose drips uncontrollably. My doctor recommended placing a thin coat of vaseline on the inside of my nose, which I did. It worked successfully for a few months, now it does not appear to be working. Just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and if they have any suggestions/recommendations. Thanks!
I can recommend using a saline nasal spray after the workout (and also before if your nasal passages are dry). You can purchase the spray in a drug store or you can make it yourself (about 1 tsp table salt in 8 oz water) and get a spray bottle. Irrigating your nose with saline helps to clear out the pool chemicals without further irritating the nasal membranes. If your nose was dry, the water itself may be irritating. Why not just use plain water? Because it is not the same salinity as blood. If you throw red blood cells into plain water they will burst. Using saline lets the fluid do its cleaning and leaves your membranes happy, i.e., not irritated, not ready to burst. Remember the recommendation to gargle with salt water when you have a sore throat?
I think about it like this: When I'm swimming I'm taking in a lot more air (working hard) through my nose and it is often combined with unsalinated water and chemicals. If my nose is dry, then the mucus is not there to protect the cell membranes from the plain water, and/or chemicals, and they become irritated. This may be more pronouced if you are using an antihistamine to dry up your nose due to colds or allergies (less mucus to protect the mucous membranes). After swimming, the concentration of the chemicals in my mucus is higher because it is not diluted by the extra water present while in the pool and that then creates the reactive sneezing and runny nose.
Try using the spray for a few workouts and if it doesn't help, talk again with your physician. Good luck.
Trivia: The average person swallows a quart of snot every day. As swimmmers I think we must be better than average!
I second the recommendation of trying a noseclip, keeping chlorinated water out of the nasal passages to begin with rather than treating the damage later.
I have had the same problem in the past. The only thing that helps me is taking a long steamy shower and washing as much of the chlorine as possible off my body and hair before I leave the pool! If I don't, I'm miserable afterwards! If that does not help, you may need to go to a E.N.T. (ear,nose,throat) Dr. and get checked out. There are so many things that could be causing this!
Change your air filter on your central air/heater frequently too! If you are worse in the morning, it could be something in your house that you are reacting to.
I have asked this very question in the past, and have yet to totally fix my runny nose/sneezing problem. The saline spray helped one or two times, but I did not use it BEFORE swimming -- which I may now try. I cannot comfortably swim with nose clips as part of my breathing is exhaling through the nose. At the worst times I have taken an allergy pill, but am rather anti-pills, and use this only in more dire circumstances.
I think my "main" pool has more chlorine than others and suspect this is the culprit of my problem. I have swum in 2 other pools and have not suffered the same malady. I will continue my search for the solution.
Nancy
I haven't had this problem myself, but haven't been swimming very long (almost a year). Is this something that happened to everyone right from the begining or did it develop over time?
Yes I have to say try a nose plug.. You can get a Synchro Style type which has no band and is hard to see. Try it see if the symptoms go away ..may take a few weeks. A cheap and easy remedy. If it works..! ....If It does not then you will have to see the Doctors .. which one to start with ? .. Allergy..ENT ..? Try a nose plug !.. You also can try "watertighting: with a tight seal cap,goggles and the nose plug too ..some people have a hard time with chlorine and need special "treatment". keep trying and dont give up on your swimming which is great exercise that you can do till you are really old ..like in your 90's!
I don't think it happens to everyone. Some are less sensitive to chlorine than others I think. Also, some pools have less chlorine than others. As I mentioned, there are some pools that I swim in and have no problems afterward.
Nancy
I have had some bouts with sneezing when the adult swim classes are in the pool at the same time as my workouts. The lifeguards were not enforcing the "shower" policy and the perfumes and other substances gave me sneezing fits.
Michael
