Thursday, October 30, 2008

Swimmer's nose

Skip this post if you don't want Too Much Information about my nose, but - I may have the nose issue nearly fixed! I brought 3 things with me to the pool today to test:

  • Vaseline
  • Plastic swimmer's nose clip
  • Bottle of nasal saline
Before swimming I put Vaseline up my nose, which is gross but better than having a 3-day "cold" from nasal irritation.

Then I put on the noseclip just before I started swimming, being sure to wipe off the excess Vaseline off the outside of my nose so it didn't slip around! Well, the nose clip didn't work so well. It hurt and my nose was running out through the clip. More ewwww. So I stuck it out for about five laps and then tried to adjust it and just ended up breaking the nose clip. Oh well, I have another metal one somewhere. I continued swimming without it.

The rest of the swim was pretty normal, I was doing a lot of work on keeping my elbows high and paddling like I'm on a surfboard, and that seemed to help my speed a little.

Then 5 or 10 minutes in the sauna after the swim like always, and then off to the showers.

I hid inside the shower and sprayed the insides of both nostrils with large amounts of saline and got all the Bad Stuff rinsed out.

Now, about 6 hours post-swim, I have some congestion but it's approximately cut in half from what I would usually get. If I can breathe tonight we're approaching a solution. If I can swim routinely without a noseclip, I would definitely prefer that!



Update: FAIL. Everything was okay until I went to bed, and then I stopped breathing. Well, at least breathing through my nose. Next up (I'll try one change at a time to see what is actually effective):
  • Find the other nose clip for my next swim
  • Swim only in the cooler pool
  • Get drugs

3 comments:

NV said...

Nancy, try a neti pot after you swim. They totally help with congestion, and I have friends w/allergies who swear by them.

Amytrigirl (aka Amybee) said...

WOW!

It is interesting how the body reacts to stuff, yes?

Sounds like you've almost found your cure...keep tweaking and let us know how it goes.

Unknown said...

Definitely try the metal nose clip. Get a clip similar to ones that synchronized swimmer wear. They work very well, comfortable to wear and stay on. I had the same probably that you suffer from. After buying a nose clip my sinus problem went away completely. Make sure you put it on before you get into the pool, and don't take it off until you shower first. That seems to help. You might want to turn the shower on, let the chlorine run off of your face and head before taking it off and then hit the sauna. Hope it works!